MMA legend Demetrious Johnson breaks down what Magomed Ankalaev did better than all previous opponents of Alex Pereira: "Room for error is minimized"

Demetrious Johnson has broken down what Magomed Ankalaev did better than most of Alex Pereira's previous opponents. Johnson seemingly lauded Ankalaev's approach toward the matchup and highlighted how it helped him deal with Pereira's fearsome striking.

Johnson is a former UFC flyweight champion and a former ONE Championship flyweight titleholder, who's beheld as one of the greatest MMA fighters ever. Taking to his YouTube channel, 'Mighty Mouse' reacted to the UFC 313 (March 8, 2025) headlining match -- Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev.

The closely contested fight witnessed Ankalaev secure a unanimous decision victory against Pereira and thereby dethrone him to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion.

Johnson notably alluded to the belief that grappling savant Ankalaev might struggle in the striking department against Pereira, who's considered to be a kickboxing legend and MMA striking savant. Explaining what Ankalaev did right -- as opposed to most past opponents who'd lost to Pereira -- the former UFC star stated:

"Ankalaev is doing a good job of not overextending himself. And when you look at all of Pereira's fights, he usually does a leg kick and waits for somebody to react. He's waiting for somebody to react ... If they react wrong, then he ends up capitalizing on it ... This is the thing that Ankalaev has done better than all of the rest of the guys that Alex Pereira has fought. He gets super close before he starts firing."

"Ankalaev is doing a good job of being very basic ... You keep your hands up with someone. When he starts to throw, you don't overextend. You get super-close. So now when I get super-close and I start exchanging with him, there's not -- my room for error is minimized. Right?"

Johnson indicated that if a fighter throws a strike when they're too far away from Alex Pereira, he deftly capitalizes on that and counters them. 'Mighty Mouse' underscored that Magomed Ankalaev's approach of getting in close before firing strikes ensured that he didn't have to "extend as far" with his strikes to catch Pereira.

Check out Demetrious Johnson's comments below (4:50):

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Demetrious Johnson predicted an Alex Pereira win over Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313

During the UFC 313 post-fight press conference, UFC boss Dana White hinted at booking an immediate Magomed Ankalaev-Alex Pereira rematch. Currently, no timeline or event for that has been officially announced. Ankalaev's win against one of the sport's biggest superstars has seemingly surprised many fans and experts.

Incidentally, Demetrious Johnson was one of the experts who'd picked Pereira to win at UFC 313. In an Instagram video, Johnson implied that he hadn't seen much wrestling from Ankalaev in his recent fights.

Johnson asserted that if Pereira wasn't on a tremendous run, he'd have picked Magomed Ankalaev to win because the better grappler generally out-wrestles and beats the better striker. However, picking 'Poatan' to win, Johnson said:

"I think he's able to take the fight to anybody who he fights, and he's able to make adjustments ... I don't think it's as easy [to take him down]. I don't think Magomed is going to be able to address the leg kick. I don't think Magomed Ankalaev is going to force the wrestling. For that, we'll have to go with Alex Pereira."

Check out Demetrious Johnson's assessment below: