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Former pound-for-pound king Alexander Volkanovski is confident in Alex Pereira ahead of the Brazilian's light heavyweight title fight against Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 313 main event. When Dana White first announced the fight, Volkanovski thought the matchup against Ankalaev would be tough for the light heavyweight champion.
However, the more he thought about the fight, 'The Great' began to lean towards the champion. Breaking down UFC 313 in A recent video uploaded on his YouTube channel, the 36-year-old pointed out Pereira's takedown defense has improved, citing the Brazilian's non-title bout against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 as a point of reference.
He said:
"Pereira, his takedown defense is getting better and better. So let's remember his fight with Jan Blachowicz. (He) was able to stop takedowns, was able to get back to his feet, and showed a lot of improvements in his takedown defense against a solid, you know, wrestler."
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Volkanovski admitted Ankalaev is a far better wrestler than Blachowicz, but pointed out that 'Poatan' would be able to stay safe on the ground due to his confidence and understanding of defense.
He continued:
"He's always had a good understanding, but now an even better understanding of grappling, takedown defense, and all that sort of stuff. And knowing that, I don't think Magomed, even if he does get him to the ground, is going to finish him. It's going to go back to the feet. I think he's going to be able to handle that. I think he could handle that," Volkanovski added.
As such, the former featherweight champion picked Pereira to knock Ankalaev out later in the fight, even if the latter can get multiple takedowns early.
Check out Alexander Volkanovski's comments below (7:09):
Alexander Volkanovski addresses potential matchup against Patricio Pitbull
In a recent interview on the Ariel Helwani Show, Alexander Volkanovski was asked if he is interested in a matchup against Patricio Pitbull, who will fight Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314. Helwani noted that both Volkanovski and Pitbull reigned as featherweight champions with the UFC and Bellator MMA respectively.
'The Great' answered by saying that he didn't think about fighting Pitbull, but recalled the instances of him being called out by the Brazilian. As for a potential fight, the 36-year-old mentioned that a couple of exciting finishes would make the fight possible, saying:
"I'll be honest, I haven't thought about that, because, yeah, there were so many years where I remember he was calling me out, but I was just busy doing my thing in the UFC. So, you know, I think him moving to the UFC was a great thing. I think he's going to be good for the division. Does he get a title shot straight after this? I don't know. Like, who was he fighting? Oh, Yair. Maybe. Maybe a big finisher there, maybe the UFC puts that up."
Nonetheless, up next for Volkanovski is a title fight against Diego Lopes at UFC 314 for the vacant featherweight strap. 'The Great' couldn't get a rematch against Ilia Topuria, who vacated the title for a lightweight move.
Check out Alexander Volkanovski's comments below (26:14):
