Alex Pereira had a chance to put to rest questions about his takedown defense at UFC 313, as he took on dangerous Dagestani Magomed Ankalaev in the night’s main event.
Ahead of his first action of 2025, “Poatan” was already being talked about for super-fights with Dricus Du Plessis, Jon Jones, and even boxing’s Oleksandr Usyk. First however, he would need to get past Ankalaev – a man who had come up short for gold once before, but remained a key player in the division since that 2022 draw with Jan Blachowicz.
Over two years later, Ankalaev had a chance to rewrite history and claim gold after being undefeated since his UFC debut opposite Paul Craig in 2018. But it was Pereira, now one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts, who fans wanted to see come out victorious, because of the possibilities that came with it.
A fight against Jon Jones and a third title? Unprecedented in UFC history. For a man brought into the UFC because of his kickboxing rivalry with Israel Adesanya, the sky had become the limit.
In the co-main event of UFC 313, Justin Gaethje ran things back with Rafael Fiziev, returning from a lengthy hiatus and stepping in to replace Dan Hooker on short notice. Their first fight had produced fireworks, leading to high expectations for their second.
Following UFC 313 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, tune in for the night’s post-fight press conference to stay on top of all the latest news and developments. A live stream is available above.
