Ankalaev’s narrow decision over Pereira met with boos at UFC 313
Magomed Ankalaev became the first fighter to defeat Alex Pereira in the 205-pound division and is the new light-heavyweight champion after getting his hand raised in the UFC 313 main event.
Ankalaev won five-round a unanimous decision that was met with boos by the crowd in attendance at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Pereira started well and landed frequent low leg kicks on Ankalaev in Round 1. Ankalaev had more success in Round 2 and rocked Pereira with a big punch late. Round 3 was a competitive, back-and-forth five minutes and Round 4 saw Ankalaev accumulate some control time while clinching along the cage.
Ankalaev wasn’t able to get Pereira to the ground but as the more experienced MMA athlete he was able to slow the fight down in the latter rounds.
A former middleweight champion who shared a longtime rivalry with Israel Adesanya before moving up in weight in 2023, Pereira became champion at 205 pounds when he defeated Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295.
Pereira, who was also two-weight world kickboxing champion before switching to MMA, earned consecutive title defences over Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, Prochazka a second time in their UFC 303 rematch and Khalil Rountree Jr., at UFC 307.
Ankalaev was riding a lengthy unbeaten streak that began after his unsuccessful UFC debut in 2018 that included wins over Aleksandar Rakic, Johnny Walker, Anthony Smith and Nikita Krylov.
The 32-year-old from Dagestan had been the division’s consensus No. 1 contender for quite some time before finally earning a shot at Pereira.
Ankalaev challenged for a vacant title in 2022 but he and Jan Blachowicz fought to a draw and Ankalaev had to work his way back to a title shot.
Justin Gaethje defeated Rafael Fiziev in a three-round unanimous decision in the night’s co-main event.
It was a rematch of a majority decision Gaethje won two years ago. Gaethje was originally scheduled to face Dan Hooker in a five-round bout but Hooker withdrew with a hand injury less than two weeks ago.
The lightweight division was heavily featured at the event.
Mauricio Ruffy picked up a highlight-reel knockout of 51-fight veteran Bobby “King” Green in the opening bout of the pay-per-view card.
Ruffy put Green to sleep with a spinning wheel kick knockout to improve to 3-0 in the UFC.
Ignacio Bahamondes submitted Jalin Turner in a battle of six-foot-three lightweights.
Turner was tapped with a triangle in the opening round and afterwards told Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter that he plans on retiring after a 13-fight UFC career.
Also on the main card, Amanda Lemos won a unanimous decision over Iasmin Lucindo.
