Magomed Ankalaev had a little warning for Alex Pereira ahead of UFC 313, telling the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion that he better prepare himself to wrestle for 25 minutes when they collide atop the UFC 313 pay-per-view (PPV) event this Sat. night (March 8) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Turns out the champ has a little warning of his own.
“I’m really excited about this fight,” Pereira told NY Post. “I think this is going to be a great experience, and I can make his words my own, as well. Let’s see if he can stand for 25 minutes. If he can’t grapple me for 25 minutes, then he’s going to have to stand up, and we all know how that’s going to go.”
Pereira has 10 knockouts in 12 wins against 10 knockouts in 19 victories for Ankalaev.
“I didn’t focus a lot on grappling before I moved to the U.S.,” Pereira continued. “But I’ve been in the U.S. now for about four years training with Glover [Teixeira] and really focused on that and really dedicated to that. So, I think this is a fight that’s going to bring that out of me and make me show everyone what I’ve been doing with my grappling.”
Hopefully he’s been doing more than just falling down.
Pereira is 5-0 since jumping up from the middleweight division with four knockouts and could be one victory away from cleaning out the Top 5 of the light heavyweight division. Beyond that lies a potential super fight against one of the best to ever do it, which could explain why this title unification bout is being delayed.
For the rest of the UFC 313 fight card and pay-per-view (PPV) lineup click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
