Israel Adesanya believes Alex Pereira gets it done this weekend.
On Saturday, Pereira puts his light heavyweight title on the line when he takes on Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 313. Pereira has been perfect since moving up to 205 pounds in the UFC, winning five in a row, including the straight title defenses in 2024.
However, Pereira now arguably faces his toughest test to date in Ankalaev, a fighter many touted as a future champion of this division and some even suggested the UFC was protecting Pereira from. All that is out the window now though and Adesanya believes “Poatan” has a number of advantages heading into this matchup.
“Leg kicks. Let’s just address the f*cking elephant in the room,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “That’s going to be a factor in this fight. He might have to become a wrestler in this fight. He might have to go into his bag for this one because he can’t just — I think ego is a part of it.
“Fight talk. He’s saying what he has to say to get the fight. ‘I’ll stand up with him.’ Yeah, it will start off standing but I don’t think it’s going to keep standing. He’s going to clinch. He’s definitely going to try and take him down. I think Ankalaev is going to try and take him down. Can he keep him down? Alex Pereira is a black belt in jiu-jitsu now. He’s exponentially getting better. I haven’t really seen him use it much in a fight because he hasn’t had to, but I’ve seen him roll with some people recently and it was a lot different from what I remember. It seems like he flows better on the ground.”
Of course, Adesanya knows what he’s talking about; he fought Pereira four times across kickboxing and MMA, finally defeating “Poatan” in their second MMA fight at UFC 287. And having spent so much time exchanging blows with Pereira, Adesanya believes he continues rolling through the light heavyweight division on Saturday.
“[Ankalaev] is going to shoot because he’s going to get tagged on the legs, and again, he could get clocked in the face,” Adesanya said. “If you say Magomed has good straight shots, that’s something Ale has to watch out for, and he switches a lot. Southpaw will be the best stance for Magomed. ...
“Maybe I’m banking too much on the leg kicks. I have experience with it and I know how effective it is. Regardless, I’m going to go with Pereira because of momentum. He’s just on a tear right now. ... When you have that kind of frame and power, you trust in your skillset so much.”
That being said, Adesanya isn’t giving Ankalaev no chance to win, he just thinks it’s going to be hard given the run of form Pereira is on right now.
“Ankalaev, speed,” Adesanya said. “But he’ll have to catch Alex when he makes a mistake. So counters. If he catches him on a counter it could be a dangerous night, but I just think this is going to go leg kicks, leg kicks, leg kicks, left hook. Alex Pereira by KO. ... Four or five. He’s going to knock him out in the fourth or fifth round.”
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Prediction. Jamahal Hill tells fans to expect to hear “And New” at UFC 313.
KC. The updated lineup for UFC Kansas City has been announced.
VIDEO STEW
UFC 313 media day.
MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin talks to Curtis Blaydes ahead of his fight at UFC 313.
UFC 313 Embedded, episode 3.
Alex Pereira fight week.
FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR
No Bets Barred. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew gives his best bets for what is expected to be a hotly contested UFC 313 main event, plus more picks for Saturday’s pay-per-view.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
This goes as well as you would expect.
Think you can do better? ️
— UFC (@ufc) March 5, 2025
Some of our #UFC313 main card athletes were put to the test ahead of Saturday's big fights! pic.twitter.com/7up3uvpHC1
Only Tony.
“May 11, Team LA”
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Champ Shit Only™️ ♂️
@mmagfl pic.twitter.com/JZvJLDTLux
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Fight camp for Kelvin Gastelum.
Day 1 of camp in CDMX #OAM4G pic.twitter.com/2lo5iWwslH
— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) March 5, 2025
Yoel Romero is back.
The wait is over— DBX 1 is here! After a private showcase, we’re bringing the most intense combat sport to a LIVE audience for the first time!
— Dirty Boxing Championship (@DirtyBoxing_) March 5, 2025
Yoel Romero headlines in a brutal showdown against Hylton
March 22 | The Hangar at Regatta Harbour | Miami, FL
Streaming LIVE… pic.twitter.com/J8RnoS19gH
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Randy Brown (19-6) vs. Nicolas Dalby (23-5-1, 2 NC); UFC Kansas City, Apr. 26.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m increasingly excited about the main event this weekend. This is the two best light heavyweights in the world locking horns in a fascinating matchup of styles. I know people really want Pereira to skip right to Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall, but I always wanted this fight and I think it’s going to be a really fun one. Almost there.
EXIT POLL
If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.
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