A
title rematch will headline UFC 320. | Getty/UFC
Two title fights highlight the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming pay-per-view event in
Las Vegas.
Magomed
Ankalaev will face Alex
Pereira in a light heavyweight championship rematch in the
UFC
320 headliner, while Merab
Dvalishvili will defend the bantamweight belt against Cory
Sandhagen in the evening’s co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena
in Las Vegas on Oct. 4.
The promotion officially confirmed the main card for UFC 320 on
Saturday night. The event will also include the following three
featured bouts: Jiri
Prochazka vs. Khalil
Rountree at light heavyweight; Aleksandar
Rakic vs. Azamat
Murzakanov at light heavyweight and Joe Pyfer vs.
Abusupiyan
Magomedov at middleweight.
Ankalaev captured the 205-pound belt with a unanimous decision
triumph against Pereira at UFC 313 on March 8. The 33-year-old
Dagestani has grown restless in recently months while waiting for
the expected rematch, often taking jabs at “Poatan” on social
media. Ankalaev is unbeaten in his last 14 Octagon appearances,
though he does have a no contest against Johnny
Walker and a draw against Jan
Blachowicz during that timeframe.
Pereira seemed to be teasing a move to heavyweight when he recently
posted videos of him tipping the scales north of 240 pounds, but
that appears to have only been in the name of entertainment. The
former Glory two-division champion has thrived since transitioning
to MMA, winning belts at both 185 and 205 pounds in the UFC. His
loss to Ankalaev snapped a five-bout winning streak that included
successful light heavyweight title defenses against Jamahal
Hill, Jiri
Prochazka and Khalil
Rountree.
Dvalishvili is in the midst of a 13-bout UFC winning streak, 12 of
which have occurred at 135 pounds. “The Machine” recently won the
ESPY for “Fighter of the Year” thanks to a stretch that included a
decision victory over Sean O’Malley to claim the bantamweight crown
at UFC 306 and successive title defenses against Usman
Nurmagomedov and O’Malley. His resume also includes wins over
the likes of Henry
Cejudo, Petr Yan,
Jose
Aldo and John
Dodson.
Sandhagen has won four of his last five UFC outings, with his lone
defeat coming at the hands of Nurmagomedov. “Sandman” returned to
the win column at UFC Des Moines, where he defeated former
flyweight champ Deiveson
Figueiredo via second-round TKO.
UFC 320 Main Card
Magomed
Ankalaev vs. Alex
Pereira
Merab
Dvalishvili vs. Cory
Sandhagen
Jiri
Prochazka vs. Khalil
Rountree
Aleksandar
Rakic vs. Azamat
Murzakanov
Abusupiyan
Magomedov vs. Joe Pyfer