Fight fans everywhere were locked in for the main event of Saturday’s UFC 320 card in Las Vegas—especially with no competition from the boxing world. It’s fair to say the MMA promotion’s executives were even more attentive than the fans when the action began.
The card in “Sin City” was topped by a light heavyweight title fight between Russian champion Magomed Ankalaev and former champion Alex Pereira, from Brazil. It was the second time the pair had met, after Ankalaev took the title from “Poatan” with a close decision victory in March.
The Russian prevailed in their first meeting with a well-rounded game plan that consisted of persistent, rhythm-defying takedown attempts—though none were successful—and aggressive boxing, which ultimately led to him wobbling his Brazilian rival on the feet.
The outcome of that first fight led many fans—including the one writing this article—to believe that Ankalaev was simply too well-rounded and too confident to be denied in the sequel. Others believed the 38-year-old Pereira had simply aged out and that Ankalaev would prey on him as a consequence.
Ankalaev’s well-roundedness still can’t be denied, but in the end, it was actually Pereira’s confidence that decided the result of the rematch. Despite being stung several times in his March meeting with Ankalaev, the former Glory kickboxing champion pushed forward from the opening bell on Saturday with no fear, and despite the inherent risk of being countered, was aggressive enough to hurt the champion early. And badly.
Mere moments into the fight—after one of the earliest exchanges—Ankalaev was shooting for takedowns with such desperation that one could almost forget he is one of best grapplers in the light heavyweight division. A few punches and elbows later, and the referee was stopping the fight. It wasn’t the most violent stoppage we’ve seen at light heavyweight of late—far from it—but it was decisive enough that it left no doubt.
“Vengeance is never a good thing,” Pereira said in his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan. “It’s kind of a poison.
“I don’t like to make excuses but I wasn’t well that night [of the first fight].”
The victory marked a return to form for Pereira, who is known as one of the fiercest punchers in the UFC and seldom wins by decision. It also marks his third major MMA title reign—an illustrious feat accomplished by few in the sport’s history before.
While the outcome couldn’t have been better for Pereira, it will be the UFC brass popping the most expensive bottles of champagne tonight. Try as they might to tell you otherwise—especially after signing a staggeringly lucrative $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount in recent weeks—the leading MMA promotion is facing a big deficit of stars.
Israel Adesanya and Sean O’Malley have lost too much to capture the imagination of fans. Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar are long gone. Conor McGregor, whose life outside the Octagon is too problematic to broach without spending hours writing, will probably never fight again—even as the Irishman hopes to headline the alleged card on the White House grounds next year.
There are, of course, a few fighters on the rise who could become cash cows for the UFC, namely Ilia Topuria and Khamzat Chimaev. However, neither man has defended their current titles, and the best laid plans have a way of falling apart in MMA.
It’s unlikely, but either man could lose brutally soon and fade into obscurity before their stardom really means anything for the UFC. Like Anthony Pettis, who made the Wheaties box. Like Junior dos Santos, who was briefly sponsored by Nike.
That’s not the case for Pereira. After two title reigns, he was already an established star for the UFC, and after flattening Ankalaev in minutes on Saturday—contrary to what most fans and oddsmakers thought—his star is burning brighter than ever.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for him. He is, despite looking good in Vegas, 38 years old. That’s not ancient for a light heavyweight in MMA, but not young either, and he has a long kickboxing career behind him, too.
That being said, his next possible challengers both appear to be surmountable, despite all of that. Ankalaev, who never caught on with fans due to his tepid fighting style and horrendous trash talk, won’t get a shot at a trilogy any time soon. That leaves Carlos Ulberg and Jiri Prochazka as the obvious first challengers for the belt. Both are tough tests—especially given the champ’s age—but both are the kind of fights Pereira can win.
Ulberg is a great striker, but lacks the experience that Pereira has, and has been stopped before. Prochazka is arguably the most violent knockout artist in the UFC right now—as he proved earlier on the UFC 320 bill—but has already been knocked out by Pereira twice before.
Unfortunately, neither man made any emphatic calls for a title shot after Pereira’s win either.
“He came in for some blood and that’s what he got,” Ulberg said backstage.
“That was a lot of pressure,” a seemingly distracted Prochazka said in his own post-card interview.
Pereira vs. Ulberg and Pereira vs. Prochazka III are both big fights. Pereira will be favored to win both, but could certainly lose either. As far as the UFC is concerned, it doesn’t matter.
As 2025 wanes, they have a popular champion at the helm of one of their most glamorous divisions, and he will almost certainly be called upon to headline one of their first big cards on Paramount.