Longtime contender Magomed Ankalaev has finally reached the light heavyweight mountaintop.
The 32-year-old Dagestani contender dethroned Brazilian superstar Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 313 on Saturday night after claiming a unanimous decision victory after five rounds of action in the main event in Las Vegas.
Heading into the bout, Ankalaev was widely considered to be the biggest danger to Pereira’s championship reign, and he proved exactly why, as he used his full range of MMA skills, along with a smart gameplan, to claim the victory with scores of 49-46, 48-47, 48-47.
After #UFC313 Magomed Ankalaev has the third longest active UFC unbeaten streak AND the belt 🏆
20 – Jon Jones
15 – Islam Makhachev
14 – @AnkalaevM 📸
12 – Merab Dvalishvili pic.twitter.com/fmj0FsGN4X— UFC (@ufc) March 9, 2025
“I can’t even put it into words,” said an ecstatic Ankalaev after his victory.
“It’s been such a long wait. And here’s my dream, it’s around my waist.”
The long wait refers to his rollercoaster run to Saturday night’s title fight with Pereira. Ankalaev had previously challenged for the then-vacant 205-pound title in the main event of UFC 282. But his bout with former champion Jan Blachowicz was controversially scored a split draw after a fight many observers felt the Russian had done enough to win.
A bounceback fight against Johnny Walker then turned into unwanted detour, with a no contest verdict necessitating a rematch.
Congratulations Brother @AnkalaevM you made a history 👏 it was amazing performance against very tough opponent.
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) March 9, 2025
It meant that it took more than a year from his draw with Blachowicz for Ankalaev to truly pick things back up, with his resounding knockout of Walker in the rematch finally getting him back on a forward trajectory once again.
A decision victory over Aleksandar Rakic followed, with Ankalaev using his post-fight speech to call for a fight with Pereira as he stated, in English, “stop running away”.
That fight finally came to fruition on Saturday night, as Ankalaev returned to the scene of his previous title heartbreak and put things right by outpointing Pereira to finally get his hands on championship gold.
“I don’t think anything surprised me,” he told Joe Rogan after his win.
“I think I could have done a better job in the fight. But something just wasn’t working out. But anyway, I’m really happy that I won.
“The plan was to pressure, pressure, pressure. Everybody who fights against him always counters.
”My job was to make sure that I work as number one, and everybody who fights against me becomes the counter striker – and my plan worked.”
Gaethje wins a thriller with Fiziev – again!
In the co-main event, Justin Gaethje bounced back from his last-second knockout defeat to Max Holloway at UFC 300 with a unanimous decision victory over Rafael Fiziev.
Fiziev had stepped in on less than two weeks’ notice to replace the injured Dan Hooker and face Gaethje in a rematch of their previous battle at UFC 286 in London in 2023.
Once again, Fiziev gave Gaethje all he could handle in another thrilling encounter that earned both men Fight of the Night bonuses for their efforts.
But it was Gaethje who walked away the victor, with all three judges scoring the bout in his favour, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.
Elsewhere on the main card, there was an impressive first-round submission finish for Chilean lightweight contender Ignacio Bahamondes, who announced his arrival as a ranked threat at 155 pounds with a triangle choke finish of Jalin Turner, while strawweight contender Amanda Lemos outpointed Iasmin Lucindo over three rounds in their 115-pound matchup.
The main card kicked off with the most spectacular knockout of the night, as Brazil’s Mauricio Ruffy KO’d King Green with a stunning spinning wheel kick just 127 seconds into their lightweight matchup.
Mauricio Ruffy stole the spotlight with his stunning spinning wheel kick KO of King Green in Las Vegas 🎡
Watch the official #UFC313 fight highlights now ▶️ pic.twitter.com/7PcKsw3hWY
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) March 9, 2025
UFC 313: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Magomed Ankalaev def. Alex Pereira via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) – for light heavyweight title
- Justin Gaethje def. Rafael Fiziev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ignacio Bahamondes def. Jalin Turner via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:29
- Amanda Lemos def. Iasmin Lucindo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mauricio Ruffy def. King Green via knockout (spinning wheel kick) – Round 1, 2:07
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Joshua Van def. Rei Tsuruya via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Brunno Ferreira def. Armen Petrosyan via submission (triangle armbar) – Round 2, 4:27
- Carlos Leal def. Alex Morono via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:16
- Mairon Santos def. Francis Marshall via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
EARLY PRELIMS
- Ozzy Diaz def. Djorden Santos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
