Pereira stops Ankalaev to reclaim light-heavyweight title

After eviscribing Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320 in Las Vegas, Alex Pereira was only able to win the light-heavyweight title in a minute and 22 seconds.

Seven months prior to the Brazilian’s unanimous decision to defeat the Russian at UFC 313, he won.

Pereira, 38, wasted no time by connecting with a massive right hook after suffering a devastating defeat in March.

Before referee Herb Dean stopped the fight after a number of violent elbows to the head, the 33-year-old was stunned by the two-division champion’s striking right.

“Vengeance is never a good thing,” says the saying. No one believed what I said to everyone last time that I wasn’t in a good position, but tonight you saw it, Pereira said after winning.

I saw it in the first fight, so it didn’t surprise me. I don’t like to make excuses, but that night I wasn’t well.

Ankalaev was hoping to get his 13th win in a row, but only two of his seven notable strikes were successful for 25 of Pereira’s 37.

Pereira has quickly grown to become one of the promotion’s biggest stars, winning two division titles in just seven fights, a record-breaking feat since making his UFC debut in 2021.

Pereira moved up to light-heavyweight after claiming gold in his three fights in 2024, earning him the title of UFC fighter of the year along with Ilia Topuria.

Pereira had to put up his biggest test in the first fight against Ankalaev because the Russian had prevented the Brazilian from striking his massive strikes. However, Pereira did not have to worry the second time around, when he thudded the side of his opponent’s head head head head first.

Ankalaev ended the Brazilian’s three-year winning streak in the first encounter, but the former champion has now suffered a second defeat, his first since March 2018.

Pereira has plans to move up another weight class to heavyweight, according to UFC welterweight champion Dana White, despite reclaiming the light-heavyweight title he lost in March.

Pereira and his team informed White of his desire to switch to heavyweight before the rematch with Ankalaev. They claim to want to fight at heavyweight, but White advised that I put the focus on tonight first. We’ll see if there are any fights in this division.

“This guy has been a total stud.” He doesn’t care when he’s hurt, and he fights. He wants to advance to heavyweight and fight everyone. After tonight, there are many topics to discuss.

When asked what Pereira’s views on jumping two weight classes in the UFC were, White responded that “he was a middleweight; to jump up two weight classes in boxing is not like jumping up two weight classes.”

In the co-main event, Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili won the bantamweight world title matchup unanimously over Cory Sandhagen from the USA.

The Georgian won 14 straight games, placing him third in UFC history with the longest win streak. Anderson Silva sits higher than Islam Makhachev and Kamaru Usman, respectively, at 15 years old.

The judges scored the fight 49-45 49-45 49-46 in favour of the champion.

I operate like a machine. I never stop improving. I put in a lot of effort. After the fight, Dvalishvili said, “I feel like I’m just beginning, I’m just starting and I keep learning.”

Dvalishvili, 34, had Sandhagen on the defense throughout the entirety of the fight.

In the opening round, Dvalishvili was not overawed and landed 23 of his 48 significant strikes, but a flurry of strikes from the Georgian made the situation worse when the game ended in the second round.