Magomed Ankalaev says Alex Pereira is training for the wrong thing as latest footage leaves many puzzled

Magomed Ankalaev reacts to Alex Pereira’s relentless wrestling training

A recent video spread across social media that shows Pereira defending takedowns from multiple training partners consecutively.

In the lead-up to the first fight with Ankalaev, the Russian’s wrestling ability was widely pointed to as his key to victory. In the end, though, it was his performance on the feet that paved the way for a unanimous decision victory on the scorecards.

And the new champ reminded ‘Poatan’ of that fact in response to the clip.

“This guy bring Punch Taxi driver to help him with Wrestling,” Ankalaev wrote on X. “You don’t need to worry about Wrestling, I’m gonna find this big head again.”

Fans share Magomed Ankalaev’s sentiment on Alex Pereira’s training approach

It seems that the UFC light heavyweight champion was not the only person confused by the footage shared from Pereira’s camp.

Plenty of fans also pointed out that Pereira’s UFC 313 loss to Ankalaev played out entirely on the feet after the Brazilian was able to withstand the Dagestani’s brief attempts to initiate grappling.

“Why tho? Alex literally defended every takedown against him.”

“Ankalaev didn’t land a single takedown in the first fight.”

“Ankalaev is gonna light him up on the feet, not the ground.”

“Very important because in their first fight Ankalaev scored *checks notes* zero takedowns.”

“He got pressure boxed last time and people are talking about his takedown defense.”

“Why is he practicing taking defense against smaller guys when he got outstruck in the last fight?”

“Bro needs to work on his striking and getting off the cage.”

“All this just to sit back & wait to defend the takedowns that never come, again?”