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Brett Okamoto
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will attempt to reclaim the throne against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320 on Oct. 4 in Las Vegas.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the immediate 205-pound title rematch via social media on Tuesday. The UFC 320 pay-per-view event will take place inside T-Mobile Arena.
Pereira (12-3), a former multiweight kickboxing champion as well as UFC middleweight champion, turned into one of the sport’s biggest stars in 2024, but he surrendered his belt in a decision loss to Ankalaev (21-1-1) at UFC 313 in March.
The 38-year-old Pereira is considered one of the most decorated combat sports athletes of all time, and he was a near-consensus pick for 2024 Fighter of the Year with knockouts of Jamahal Hill, JiYà Procházka and Khalil Rountree Jr.
Ankalaev, of Dagestan, will likely be favored to beat him a second time, however. The 33-year-old is unbeaten in his past 13 appearances.
In addition to the main event, White announced a bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili (20-4) and Cory Sandhagen (18-5) as the co-main event. Dvalishvili will be seeking his third title defense this year, adding to victories over Umar Nurmagomedov and Sean O’Malley. Sandhagen will be vying for his first undisputed UFC championship. He lost to Petr Yan in an interim title bout in 2021.
Light heavyweight contenders Procházka (31-5-1) and Rountree (14-6) will also clash on the UFC 320 main card.