Alex Pereira faces arguably his toughest test to date in Magomed Ankalaev.
The UFC light heavyweight champion is set to defend his belt against Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 313 this weekend at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.
During his rise to the top, Periera, a former two-weight Glory Kickboxing champion, has almost entirely fought strikers.
While some, like Jan Blachowicz, possess decent grappling skills, Pereira has never locked horns with someone as well-versed on the ground as Ankalaev.
The 32-year-old hails from the mountains of Dagestan – a hotbed for combat sports.
Despite its relatively small population of approximately 3.1 million, the Russian republic has produced a disproportionate number of Olympic wrestling medallists and UFC champions.
The first Dagestani to win a UFC world title was first ballot Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who retired undefeated, while UFC lightweight champion and current pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev grew up in the same area.
Both fighters have dominated their adversaries with exceptional wrestling and Combat Sambo skills.
It has been a similar story for Ankalaev when he opts to change levels.
Ankalaev is a Master of Sport in Combat Sambo and is a nightmare to deal with when he gets hold of his opponents.
He also possesses very good stand up and has gone toe to toe with many high-level strikers, most recently Aleksandar Rakić in his last outing.
Against Pereira, he would be ill advised to adopt the same bullish strategy given the Brazilian’s uncanny ability to render his opponents unconscious.
However, every fight starts standing and Ankalaev’s versatility will be crucial in setting up his takedowns.
Pereira is the consensus pick for the most dangerous striker in the UFC, but his grappling skills have not been tested against truly elite opposition.
He has faced 31 takedowns during his UFC career and boasts a 70 per cent takedown defence rate.
The only fighter to really force these exchanges was Blachowicz, who got Pereira down to the canvas three times during their 2023 clash, which ended in a narrow split decision win for Pereira.
Grappling remains a grey area in his game and Pereira is relishing the opportunity to prove it isn’t a glaring weakness.
“Let’s see if he can stand for 25 minutes,” Pereira told the New York Post.
“If he can’t grapple me for 25 minutes, then he’s gonna have to stand up. And we all know how that’s gonna go.
“Obviously I didn’t focus a lot on grappling before I moved to the U.S.
“But I’ve been in the U.S. now for about four years, training with Glover [Texeira] and really focused on that and really dedicated on that.
“So I think this is a fight that’s gonna bring that out and make me show everyone what I can do with my grappling.”
Providing Pereira comes through his upcoming clash with Ankalev unscathed, then a super fight with Jon Jones is on the cards.
The UFC want Jones to defend his heavyweight title against interim champion Tom Aspinall next, but ‘Jonny Bones’ is much keener on a blockbuster showdown with Pereira, which would pit two multi-weight champions against each other.
Speaking after his most recent win over Stipe Miocic last November, Jones said: “I’m not really worried about the Tom [Aspinall] fight.
“I’m more worried about the [Alex] Pereira fight. That’s what I really want to do.
“And I think if the UFC wants to have me back, then I think that’s the fight they will make.
“I have been very clear about my intentions, and that’s what I want. I think anybody will understand about this point.
“I will retire without the heavyweight belt if I have too. Give the guy what he wants. I’m at a place now I want to be in super-fights.
“I don’t want to fight dangerous up-and-comers anymore, I want to fight established champions.
“Tom can have the heavyweight championship if he wants it, I’ve created something much bigger and I want Pereira.”
A bout with Jones would surely pocket Pereira the largest payday of his career and the likelihood of it going ahead could rest on whether he can keep Ankalaev at bay.
