Robert Whittaker Issues Warning to Magomed Ankalaev Before UFC 313 Clash with Alex Pereira
Robert Whittaker thinks it’ll be ‘And Still’ on Saturday night.
Emanating from the familiar confines of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, UFC 313 will feature a light heavyweight championship headliner as Alex Pereira puts his gold on the line against the division’s top-ranked contender Magomed Ankalaev.
Unbeaten in his last 13 fights, Ankalaev is considered to be Pereira’s toughest test yet inside the Octagon. Still, ‘The Repaer’ thinks ‘Poatan’ will take care of business and leave ‘Sin City’ with his title intact. Well, so long as Ankalaev doesn’t do something foolish like trying to stand and trade with the Brazilian boogeyman.
“I’m gonna go Pereira,” Whittaker said on the MMArcade podcast. “Like I said, if Ankalaev doesn’t drop level with him within like the first three minutes, I don’t think he makes it out of the first round. I don’t want to be striking with that guy, period. He hits like a truck. He’s very comfortable and confident standing. So, yeah, you have to get him on his back in that first round.
“Pereira brings a definitive X element into the game.”
What’s next for Robert Whittaker?
As for Whittaker himself, the former middleweight titleholder has not yet booked a return to the Octagon since suffering a quick-fire submission loss against Khamzat Chimaev in October.
But if ‘The Reaper’ gets his wish, he’ll go toe-to-toe with another ex-champion this summer.
“I think Strickland makes a good argument to have because I feel like we’ve both been in that top sort of pond for a while circling each other,” Whittaker said on the On Paper podcast with Anthony Smith. “For whatever reason, we haven’t been matched up but we’ve both been in proximity for a while.
“It’s most likely the fight to make, I’m excited about that fight. I look at his style and I find it curious. I find it exciting to try to work out. I’ve just been working on some things, working on some new skillsets but I want to come back this year in June. That’s when I want to put my hand up to fight because it gives me a good amount of time to just continue doing what I’m doing but also ease into a camp.”
Both Whittaker and Strickland are coming off losses after ‘Tarzan’ suffered a lopsided defeat at the hands of current 185-pound titleholder Drucis Du Plessis at UFC 312.
