"Smell the fear", "Kid's scared of getting flatlined" - Fans react to Magomed Ankalaev's U-turn on wrestling Alex Pereira at UFC 313

Magomed Ankalaev recently seemed less committed to his original plan of not wrestling against Alex Pereira, and fans have now reacted to this change of plan.

Ankalaev will battle UFC light heavyweight kingpin Pereira at UFC 313. After the bout was announced, the Russian took to social media and promised to forgo his wrestling against 'Poatan', who is famed and feared for his immaculate striking and left hook.

However, after 'Poatan' was seen wrestling in the snow with Glover Teixeira, Ankalaev stated that the Brazilian UFC champion should be ready to wrestle with at UFC 313 for five rounds.

In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, the challenger was asked if he is still ready to stand and bang with 'Poatan' or if he plans to take the champion down and show his wrestling prowess.

Ankalaev said:

"There was the initial tweets when Alex won the belt where I said, 'Don’t worry about the wrestling,' but since then, things changed... Glover’s wrestling is not going to help him.”

Check out Magomed Ankalaev's interview below:

With Ankalaev seemingly recanting his previous promises, fans flooded social media with their thoughts.

A user wrote:

"Smell the fear 🤣😭🤣"

Another commented:

"Kids scared of getting flatlined"

Others said:

"People really believe Alex is going to to counter Ankalaev’s ground game 😭?"

"Lying is haram"

Check out a few more reactions below:

Fan comments- [Screenshots courtesy: @acdmma_ on X]

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Israel Adesanya thinks Alex Pereira will knock out Magomed Ankalaev

Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has locked horns with Alex Pereira four times to date across two sports. After being sighted cageside at UFC 312, it now appears that the two have resolved their past beef.

'The Last Stylebender' most recently shared his thoughts on the UFC 313 headliner and backed 'Poatan' to win by knockout despite Magomed Ankalaev's well-rounded skillset:

"Alex Pereira by KO... He’s going to knock him out in the fourth or fifth round."

Check out Israel Adesanya's comments on Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev below (14:36):