"Alex Pereira is going down in first round", "He better shoot for the TD" - Fans react to Magomed Ankalaev's ground and pound session ahead of UFC 313

A clip of Magomed Ankalaev sharpening his ground-and-pound skills ahead of his UFC 313 light heavyweight title clash with Alex Pereira has been making the rounds on social media. The MMA fandom wasted no time in sharing its thoughts on Ankalaev's chances come fight night.

Ankalaev has waited a long time to earn his second crack at the light heavyweight belt, and he is believed to stand the greatest chance at dethroning Pereira for the 205-pound belt.

Check out Magomed Ankalaev's ground-and-pound training session:

Pereira is one of the most feared strikers in MMA, possessing all-time great kickboxing skills and a destructive left hook that has annihilated more than his fair share of UFC champions. While Ankalaev is a serviceable striker, prevailing wisdom dictates that he should not try and strike with Pereira.

Instead, he should pursue takedowns given his Dagestani wrestling background. Several fans seem to agree with the sentiment that anyone who faces Pereira should be hunting for takedowns.

They took to the comments section of Championship Rounds' post on X featuring the aforementioned clip to share their opinions. One wrote:

"He better shoot for the TD unlike the other LHWs."

Another fan previewed the fight, believing it could come down to two distinct outcomes.

"Alex Pereira is going down in first round or Ankalaev is going down in 2nd round"

Others felt that Ankalaev should be improving his defense against low kicks given his past struggles against Jan Błachowicz's low kicks, which do not bode well against as lethal a low-kicker as Pereira.

"He should be working on checking kicks"

Interestingly, some felt that Ankalaev was training excessively.

"OVERTRAINING"

A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:

Fan reactions to Magomed Ankalaev's ground-and-pound

Ankalaev will be determined not to squander his second chance at light heavyweight gold, especially given how poorly his previous attempt went.

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Alex Pereira has been sharpening his wrestling skills ahead of his fight with Magomed Ankalaev

Alex Pereira is leaving nothing to chance. While Daniel Cormier expressed concern over 'Poatan's' apparent lack of training ahead of UFC 313, Pereira assured him that he is taking his preparation seriously. Moreover, a clip recently emerged of him training wrestling with Glover Teixeira.

Check out Alex Pereira's wrestling training ahead of his fight with Magomed Ankalaev:

However, Magomed Ankalaev was quick to respond to it, warning 'Poatan' that he ought to be ready to wrestle for 25 minutes. Ironically, Ankalaev had previously claimed that he would outstrike Pereira instead of wrestling him.