After a year of watching from the shadows while others claimed his rightful opportunity, Magomed Ankalaev finally steps into the light at UFC 313. The Dagestani contender, whose path to gold has been paved with overlooked excellence, now faces 205lbs gold standard Alex Pereira in a Vegas showdown that promises fireworks—or perhaps, calculated patience. The Brazilian striking savant has danced through the division with his concussive hands, carefully selecting dance partners willing to play his deadly game. Yet the memory of Jan Blachowicz’s ground control haunts ‘Poatan’ like a nightmare he hopes to forget.

Enter Ankalaev: a wolf in striker’s clothing. While his hands have built his highlight reel, it’s the wrestling arsenal flowing through his Dagestani veins that has Robert Whittaker and others whispering prophecies of a new champion. For all Pereira’s spectacular finishes, this fight may ultimately become a tale of a stylistic nightmare—the grappler who refuses to play striking roulette with a man whose left hook serves as both judge and executioner.

“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 just 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.

And that does seem to be the view of most fans and analysts. After all, the Polish juggernaut had successfully managed to keep much of his UFC 291 clash with Pereira on the ground. And this paid off, with ‘Poatan’ managing to eke through a controversial split decision, which many feel could have gone the other way.

If there is a blueprint to beating Pereira (other than having Israel Adesanya’s striking skills), Blachowicz laid it out, and ‘Bobby Knuckles’ thinks Ankalaev should follow it if he wants to win. However, worryingly, ‘Russian Terror’ seems to have a different plan! A very dangerous plan!

Will Magomed Ankalaev strike with Alex 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. This raises the all-important question: Is the title challenger serious?

The Dagestani is a pretty good striker, but this is Alex Pereira we are talking about. The Brazilian is not just a UFC double champ but was also the first two-division Glory kickboxing champion, and has a claim to being the best striker in the entire sport. And trying to out-strike ‘Poatan’ would be like trying to beat Steph Curry in a three-point contest.

And Jan Blachowicz, who has fought both Ankalaev and Pereira, thinks that would be a huge mistake. Blachowicz and Ankalaev fought to a split draw in their memorable UFC 282 light heavyweight title clash. The Pole did remarkably well in the first three rounds, hurting Ankalaev’s legs so badly with his kicks that the Dagestani was forced to switch stances. In the fourth, however, Ankalaev flipped the script and went to an all-grappling strategy, which paid dividends. He tired out Blachowicz by holding him against the cage and utterly dominated the fifth and final round. Perhaps this is why the Pole feels that Ankalaev would go amiss if he didn’t lean into his wrestling against Pereira.

“He [Ankalaev’ needs to use his wrestling skills to make like tired Pereira, to make tired his hands, and then he can start fighting in stand up. If he will fight in stand-up all the way, like a kickboxer, he’s gonna lose the fight. This is my opinion. If he not gonna use his wrestling skill, he gonna do nothing you know,” the former 205lbs champ told Michael Bisping on the latter’s podcast.

Of course, Ankalaev may just have been bluffing. Even Blachowicz had promised he would test his striking against Pereira, only to blindside ‘Poatan’ in their UFC 291 clash by taking him down early and often. And the Dagestani may be looking to do the same. Or maybe not. We will have to wait until March 8 to find out. What do you think about Robert Whittaker’s take on the Pereira-Ankalaev clash?