Written by Alexander Volkanovski finds it hard to bet against Alex Pereira at UFC 313.
Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) defends his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) in Saturday’s main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+).
Volkanovski thinks Pereira’s ground game will hold up, and that his diverse striking will pose problems for Ankalaev.
“He’s very dangerous because he puts the pressure on and he can flick stuff out untelegraphed and set things up offensively. And then on the counter, (he’s) very, very, very good on the counter,” Volkanovski said of Pereira on his YouTube channel. “(It’s a) hard, hard, hard fight for Ankalaev to stay on the feet. He’s going to want to take it down, he will try and take it down, he might get takedowns. Five rounds of them? Does beating up the leg a little bit, does Pereira just eventually find it? I think so. I think he’s going to be technically sound enough to not get submitted on the ground and that fight continues.
“And even if he does hold him, because he’s going to have good control, I’m sure Ankalaev has great grappling, probably really good with control, but I think it’s going to be more control based. So I don’t see him being able to submit Pereira unless Pereira gives something up in his process to building up, which I’m sure he’s going to be working with Glover Teixeira. He’s going to be pretty sound there and make the right decisions. He’s pretty clever and durable and composed, so it’s going to be hard for Magomed to capitalize on opportunities that may be there on the ground.”
Volkanovski ultimately predicted a knockout win for Pereira, who is a slight favorite on a few betting sites, with others sportsbooks having the odds dead even.
“I’m going to go with the favorite on this one: Alex Pereira, KO,” Volkanovski said. “I’m going to go with KO/TKO. I think with him, it’s always a pretty safe bet – especially when he’s the favorite. I don’t think it’s going to be early rounds. Could definitely do it straight away. I’m thinking maybe second- or third-round TKO.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.