With UFC 320 on the horizon, Alex Pereira is leaving no stone unturned for his much-anticipated rematch against Magomed Ankalaev. ’Poatan’s’ unique grappling drill for the upcoming contest, however, has fight fans concerned.
In their original meeting at UFC 313, Ankalaev used his superior wrestling to force clinches and pose a persistent takedown threat. This severely affected the Brazilian’s work rate on his feet, allowing his opponent to land damaging strikes of his own.
While Pereira was largely able to stop Ankalaev’s takedown attempts, he was unable to mount a meaningful offensive. At one point in the fight, the reigning light heavyweight champion even landed a clean punch that stunned the famed kickboxer.
Coming into the rematch, ’Poatan’ appears intent on further bolstering his grappling capabilities. A recent Instagram story by the fighter shows him defending takedowns from multiple opponents, one after the other.
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Fight fans, however, are not happy with his training methods, with many taking to social media to note their opinions.
Check out Alex Pereira’s training drill below:
@ZamCorleto wrote:
”Hmmm, idk Big Ank by KO! Anyway.”
@YusZenith highlighted:
”Bro almost got knocked out in the last fight, he’d better work on his boxing defence.”
@prayingforaplay commented:
”Didn’t DDP do this in practice too?? And got mauled by Khamzat.”
@WilsonVollyball chimed in:
”He should rewatch Duplesis vs. Chimaev.. take notes on what not to do and he’d be golden.”
Check out a few more responses below:
Magomed Ankalaev predicts knockout win over Alex Pereira
Alex Pereira is arguably the best striker in MMA history. ’Poatan’ was a two-division GLORY kickboxing champion before switching to mixed martial arts. However, Magomed Ankalaev is convinced he can best the Brazilian at his own game.
After UFC 313, many in the MMA community felt that Pereira was lucky not to get finished on the feet. This time around, Ankalaev is hoping to finish the job. Earlier this July, after Dana White announced the light heavyweight title rematch, the 33-year-old took to X with a definitive prediction, writing:
”Dana White announced my next fight on October 4th. I’m knocking Alex out this time. There is no other way, get ready for the big show.”
alt=”Ujwal Jain” height=”72″ width=”72″>
Edited by Ujwal Jain
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