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LAS VEGAS — Magomed Ankalaev claimed the UFC light heavyweight title with a convincing unanimous decision victory over Alex Pereira at UFC 313 on Saturday night, defeating the defending champion 49-46, 48-47, 48-47.

Anklaev (20-1-1) took the highly partisan crowd out of the fight early with a dominant grappling effort, mitigating a significant number of leg kicks from Pereira (12-2). Ankalaev’s win brings him full circle from his first title shot at UFC 282 in December 2022, a controversial split draw against Jan Blachowicz that saw Ankalaev fall short of claiming the interim belt.

Pereira’s loss ends a highly publicized streak of three title defenses within the last year, a stretch that saw Pereira become arguably the biggest star in the sport. A win would have made Pereira the second-fastest fighter to four title defenses in UFC history.

No. 3 lightweight Justin Gaethje (27-5) defeated No. 11 Rafeal Fiziev (12-3) by unanimous decision in the co-main event, a rematch of their bout at UFC 286 that was a fight of the year contender in 2023. Fiziev closed as a -160 favorite despite a 17-month hiatus, thus improving Gaethje’s record to 7-3 as an underdog in the UFC. Gaethje gained the upper hand with a vicious uppercut that knocked Fiziev down in the second round and he secured the fight with a convincing finish to the third and final round.

Mauricio Ruffy (12-1) opened the main card with a thrilling knockout of King Green (32-17-1) at 2:07 of the first round. Ruffy landed a perfectly executed wheel kick to Green’s head, rendering the Fontana, Calif., native completely unconscious. With the victory, Ruffy extended the undefeated streak of the popular “Fighting Nerds” faction from Brazil — Ruffy, Caio Borralho and Carlos Prates — riding a combined 32-fight winning streak, per UFC.com.

The main card’s second fight did a great job of draining all the energy that Ruffy had injected into the arena minutes prior. No. 5 women’s flyweight Amanda Lemos (15-4-1) defeated No. 7 Iasmin Lucindo (17-6) by unanimous decision in a wrestling-heavy bout that drew disinterested boos from the crowd throughout.

Ignacio Bahamondes (17-5) defeated No. 13 lightweight Jalin Turner (14-9) via triangle choke at 2:29 of the first round. The submission was only the third of Bahamondes’ 21-fight career and his first in over three years. With the loss, Turner has dropped five of his last six fights dating back to February 2022.

–Will Despart, Field Level Media