Alex Pereira didn’t get beat up on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 313, but he did lose his light heavyweight title. Magomed Ankalaev won a less-than-thrilling fight to earn the UFC light heavyweight championship.
Ankalaev’s ability to shut down Pereira’s offense was the key, though I did give the latter a slight edge on my scorecard (48-47). In any event, the official result was a unanimous decision win for Ankalaev.
Pereira conducted an interview in the Octagon after the fight, but he expounded further in a video he posted on social media that ESPN MMA reposted.
In short, Pereira says he will be back and that he is already eyeing adjustments he can make for the rematch.
Pereira’s video answers a few questions off the bat, eliminating a ton of speculation. First, he’s not walking away or even seemingly looking to take a ton of time off before getting back into the Octagon.
Secondly, a move to heavyweight to challenge either Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall for the UFC heavyweight title isn’t what’s next for the former two-division champion.
Pereira seems to be firmly focused on a rematch with Ankalaev. Considering UFC President Dana White told the media that he would “probably” look to do an immediate rematch between Pereira and Ankalaev next, there’s an excellent chance that’s what we get sometime later this year.
Ankalaev was brash during his post-fight meeting with the press. He accused Pereira of running for 20 minutes during their 25-minute fight.
The two men stood in relatively close quarters for most of the fight, but there is no question Pereira showed respect for Ankalaev’s power in the highly measured, high-stakes battle.
Pereira shut down every takedown attempt, but his downfall was his inability to separate from Ankalaev’s clinches against the cage in the third and fourth rounds. Pereira will have to work on disengaging during those sequences and perhaps being a bit more offensive in those situations.
The fight reminded me a lot of Jose Aldo’s loss to Mario Bautista in October 2024 at UFC 307. Bautista didn’t do much damage to Aldo, but the judges scored rounds for Bautista based on his control of the Brazilian legend against the cage.
If Pereira wants a different result in the rematch—and Ankalaev attempts a similar strategy—the former will need to make the adjustments he mentioned.
In case you missed it, here are the results from UFC 313.
Main Card
- Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Magomed Ankalaev def. Alex Pereira via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47×2)
- Lightweight Bout: Justin Gaethje def. Rafael Fiziev via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
- Lightweight Bout: Ignacio Bahamondes def. Jalin Turner via first-round submission (arm triangle)
- Women’s Strawweight Bout: Amanda Lemos def. Iasmin Lucindo via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
- Lightweight Bout: Mauricio Ruffy def. King Green via first-round KO
Preliminary Card
- Flyweight Bout: Joshua Van def. Rei Tsuruya via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- Middleweight Bout: Brunno Ferreira def. Armen Petrosyan via second-round submission (arm bar)
- Welterweight Bout: Carlos Leal def. Alex Morono via first-round TKO
Early Preliminary Card
- Featherweight Bout: Mairon Santos def. Francis Marshall via split decision (29-28×2, 27-30)
- Middleweight Bout: Ozzy Diaz def. Djorden Santos via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
