In the lead-up to UFC 313, one of the biggest talking points—at least for the main event—is the clash of styles and employment of strategy for either fighter. With Alex Pereira, there is the danger of being outgrappled by Magomed Ankalaev, while with the Dagestani—well, we know what danger he faces from his Brazilian opponent. ‘Poatan’ has doubled down that there will be no change in his strategy for this fight, while Ankalaev is sure he can give trouble to the champ with his relentlessness. Despite Ankalaev having all his finishes by knockout, he should know better than to exclusively stand and strike with Pereira. That’s what Robert Whittaker thinks as well.

‘The Reaper’ is sure that Ankalaev needs to take down Pereira and needs to do it as quickly as possible—within the first 3 minutes, otherwise, it’ll be disastrous for him. Ankalaev has exuded confidence in this bout, making bold statements on social media. He declared on X, “I’m ready for war [on] Saturday night. I will change this guy’s face.” Pereira was not far behind as he posted an Instagram story with a selfie of himself ready for war with a shaved head with the caption, “ready to kill,” in Portuguese.

Between the both of them, Whittaker is leaning towards Pereira. In his conversation with Jonny Roses on the MMArcade podcast, he said, “I wanna see—if I am coaching Ankalaev, I’m like—I want him dropping to both knees and shooting from across the cage. I want him like, army crawling to Pereira’s ankles. We are blanking in 25 minutes. We need to slow him down or we need to get him to a position where he’s uncomfortable. We need to start making threat levels elsewhere.”

In simple words, Whittaker understood the need of the hour, which was to just concentrate on wrestling and not even think about fighting Pereira while standing up.  Why? “Because you see every stand-up fight Pereira is in. Every single one of them—even when he’s hurt, even when he’s getting hit like when he was with Rountree. He’s just comfortable there. He will stay there. He’ll be there till the crowds leave. Like he’s so comfortable and confident in that position, in that dynamic of fighting, that it’s silly to fight him there.” Whittaker noted.

The Aussie star is convinced that if Ankalaev gives Alex Pereira any chance of fighting while standing up, he is going to lose. What is more interesting is that the Brazilian is honing his wrestling skills as was seen in an Instagram post. He and Glover Teixeria were wrestling barefoot, shirtless, and in the cold outside in the snow—so clearly, Pereira is not taking Magomed Ankalaev lightly. However, ‘The Reaper’ also acknowledged that this isn’t going to be an easy fight for ‘Poatan’.

Robert Whittaker claimed that Alex Pereira would finally be tested

Indeed, none of Pereira’s opponents in MMA (except for Izzy), who stood with him didn’t see the end of the fight. Enter Jan Blachowicz, who provided the perfect gameplan—to first survive, and then try and beat Alex Pereira. What did he do? Well, he wrestled from the get-go, not letting up or giving ‘Poatan’ the openings to find the finish. This is exactly what Magomed Ankalaev should do against Alex Pereira—at least on paper.

“Oh, mate it’s tricky. Ah, it’s so hard to say [who wins], because Pereira has like shut down a lot of questions, but he’s never really been tested against proper wrestlers. Not that Ankalaev is like a full-blown wrestler. But it seems like the theme of the story is that he’s just looking to take him down for 25 minutes. And if that’s the case, then yeah, I don’t know, it’s going to be a long night for Pereira. The whole thing is, though, you shut Pereira down by getting you on his back, okay? That’s how you beat Pereira,” Whittaker told ‘Submission Radio’ in an interview.

Blachowicz already gave a glimpse of a blueprint that can be executed to beat Pereria. Whittaker thinks that Ankalaev’s only chance of victory is to follow that route. But Magomed Anakalev has a more daring plan it seems! He is determined to outstrike Pereira! “Guys believe me, everyone, I will knock out @AlexPereiraUFC I do not need to take him down, this guy his chin is gone but I know he is very dangerous,” Ankalaev promised fans online in an X post last year. 

Is this a wise move from the Russian? Not according to Whittaker who thinks the Brazilian “hits like a truck.” What do you think of the Russian’s confidence in knocking out the knockout artist at UFC 313? Will he be successful? Let us know in the comments down below.