Let’s not sugarcoat it! UFC 313 didn’t go the way a lot of people expected. Alex Pereira, the boogeyman of two divisions, the guy who cooked Jamahal Hill in under a round, found himself in an awkward, high-stakes chess match against Magomed Ankalaev. Fans expected violence. But they got hesitation in return.
Ankalaev doesn’t fight the way most light heavyweights do. He doesn’t rush or engage in brawl. He will wait for the right opportunity. And when you blink, he punishes you for it. That’s not just analyst talk, who are still dissecting what went wrong with ‘Poatan’. It’s coming straight from Johnny Walker, a man who’s shared the cage with Ankalaev twice and still seems to be processing what happened.
On Verse Us with Eric Nicksick, Walker laid bare the brutal simplicity of what went wrong. He offered a far more personal lens into what it’s actually like to fight the Dagestani technician. Walker relived his own mistakes in the interview. “I was watching that fight, very thankful for that fight when it happened. Ankalaev is just very, very technical. He’s high-level, been training for a long time. He was good,” he said. Walker fought Ankalaev twice in 2023. The first bout at UFC 294 ended in a controversial no contest after an illegal knee.
The rematch at UFC Vegas 84 in January 2024 showcased Ankalaev’s striking prowess with a devastating second-round knockout. The contest came to an end at 2:42 of Round 2, as Ankalaev unleashed a fierce right hook, followed by a crushing uppercut that left Walker with a serious nose injury, leading the referee to stop the bout.
“One little mistake. He’s so good that one little mistake—I stepped wrong on the kick. I should’ve kicked and brought my foot back and stayed in my stance,” and Walker’s breakdown speaks volumes. The cost of one technical error against an elite operator is is often immediate defeat. And a split-second misstep can flip the entire fight. “That’s what I’m telling you: Ankalaev is a champion-level fighter. One little mistake can change the fight,” Walker emphasized.
March 8, 2025, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA: MAGOMED ANKALAEV 21-1-1, 1 NC of Teletl, Russia defeats ALEX PEREIRA 12-3-0 of SoÂo Paulo, Brazil by unanimous decision 49-46, 48-47, 48-47 during UFC 313 at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas Las Vegas USA – ZUMAo117 20250308_zsp_o117_041 Copyright: xMikaelxOnax
Johnny Walker also stressed upon the unforgiving nature of Pereira’s UFC 313 opponent in the same interview with Eric Nicksick. “A lot of guys outside the rankings, you can make a mistake and still recover. But when you get up there, you need to bring everything together to fight that guy. It’s the [ __ ] fight of your life.”
Walker’s assessment tracks with Ankalaev’s rise. The Russian light heavyweight now holds an 11-1-1 UFC record, with his only loss coming to Paul Craig in his 2018 debut. The Brazilian knockout artist added, “If you want to be champion, you need to be such a good athlete at that level. You can learn, try new stuff, and make the fight difficult for your opponent. You should mix a little bit—like Georges St-Pierre. He was so hard to fight because he mixed everything—good striking, good wrestling, good jiu-jitsu.”
Coming to ‘Poatan’, the Brazilian Light Heavyweight has warnings for the rematch against Ankalaev. Despite Pereira’s effective leg kicks early in the fight, Ankalaev’s forward pressure and clinch work shifted the momentum in his favor. Pereira defended all 12 of Ankalaev’s takedown attempts but was unable to counter the sustained pressure and control exerted by Ankalaev throughout the later rounds. This was not what Pereira’s opponent before Ankalaev, Khalil Rountree Jr. expected.
Khalil Rountree Jr. questions Alex Pereira’s edge at UFC 313
Walker wasn’t the only fighter scrutinizing Pereira’s showing at UFC 313. Khalil Rountree Jr., who went to war with Pereira at UFC 307, shared a sharp observation via MMA Today, posted by @verdictmma on Instagram. “I couldn’t even really watch the last few rounds of Pereira vs. Ankalaev. It was so confusing, I wanted to see the Alex that fought me, not that one,” said Rountree Jr.
Rountree Jr. pushed Pereira harder than expected in their fight, forcing the champ to adapt and pull away late. What Rountree suggests is that Pereira may have either underestimated Ankalaev or struggled with the pace and timing that the Dagestani technician imposed.
That’s a subtle nudge at Pereira, who’s been dominant as a kickboxer. Magomed Ankalaev, on the other hand, has methodically dismantled opponents with high fight IQ. He has elite striking defense and lands clean while rarely absorbing significant damage.
If there’s a through-line between Walker’s words and Rountree’s sentiment, it’s Ankalaev. He is that rare fighter who can make elite strikers look hesitant. That’s why so many believed he could be a champion back in 2022, before a disputed draw against Jan Błachowicz at UFC 282 derailed his momentum.
What do you think- does Ankalaev’s ability to neutralize even the most dangerous strikers like Pereira prove he was always destined to be champion, as Walker and Rountree suggest? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
The post Deep Regret for Magomed Ankalaev’s Ex-Rival as Alex Pereira Swallows Tough Truth After UFC 313 appeared first on EssentiallySports.