Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) had to take the hardest of hard roads to get his chance at gold. Similar to fellow champs Belal Muhammad and Merab Dvalishvili, the long path consisting of a double digit unbeaten streak is what it took for Ankalaev to get his opportunity to challenge Pereira, and he got the job done by unanimous decision.

Arguably the biggest star in the UFC at the moment, Alex Pereira may want to forget the bit of promotional history he made at UFC 313. A former two-division GLORY Kickboxing champion that initially went 4-0 as a UFC middleweight before losing the division’s title in a rematch with Israel Adesanya,

Alex Pereira lost his light heavyweight title and his future could be at heavyweight, and Justin Gaethje revived his career with a win and still has more to give.

Top lightweights Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev met in a short-notice fight in the co-main event of UFC 313. Headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev, UFC 313 was also originally supposed to feature a matchup between Gaethje and #6-ranked lightweight contender Dan Hooker.

The pair headline UFC 313 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Pereira made his UFC debut in November 2021 and has already put together a career worthy of the Hall of Fame. After beating Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title,

Magomed Ankalaev scored a stunning upset with a unanimous decision to take Alex Pereira’s undisputed light heavyweight belt at UFC313.