For the fifth time, Alex Pereira will defend The UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. The story of Pereira’s career is quite a fascinating one. Though he was previously a kickboxer, Pereira’s MMA career didn’t start until 2015 and he has taken the UFC by storm in a short time period. Pereira is the first light heavyweight to beat Israel Adesanya. Though he would lose the belt in their rematch, he would quickly win it back at UFC 295.
None of Pereira’s title fights have gone the full five rounds because each of them ended in a TKO. MMA is usually considered a young man’s game, yet Pereira doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. His record stands at 12 wins and 2 losses.
But Periera is facing a man who hasn’t lost a bout in seven years. The only blemish on Magomed Ankalaev’s record was his UFC debut where he lost to Paul Craig by submission, but the light heavyweight would go on a 11-fight winning streak that saw him take out top contenders Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, Aleksandar Rakić, and Johnny Walker. Ankalaev walks in with a record of 19 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw.
The co-main event features a rematch between one of the best lightweight matches in the past couple of years. Justin Gaethje returns from his tremendous bout against Max Holloway at UFC 300. That bout snapped a nice two-fight streak that saw Gaethje beat Dustin Poirier and his opponent tonight, Rafael Fiziev. Gathje comes in with a record of 24 wins and 5 losses.
His opponent is a replacement for Dan Hooker, who was forced to withdraw due to injury. Fiziev hasn’t fought in two years due to injury, but is in the midst of two-fight skid. Still, Fiziev has more wins than losses in UFC career with one of those victories being over former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos. Fiziev’s record currently stands at 12 wins and 3 losses.
Check out the full line-up for tonight’s UFC 313:
Main Card:
- UFC light heavyweight title: Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev
- Lightweight: Justin Gaethje vs Rafael Fiziev
- Lightweight: Jalin Turner vs Ignacio Bahamondes
- Women's strawweight: Amanda Lemos vs Iasmin Lucindo
- Lightweight: King Green vs Mauricio Ruffy
Prelims:
- Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes vs Rizvan Kuniev
- Flyweight: Joshua Van vs Rei Tsuruya
- Middleweight: Brunno Ferreira vs Armen Petrosyan
- Welterweight: Alex Morono vs Carlos Leal
Early Prelims:
- Featherweight: Mairon Sanots vs Francis Marshall
- Middleweight: Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos vs Osman Diaz
- Featherweight: Chris Gutierrez vs John Castaneda