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

Ankalaev took the highly partisan crowd out of the fight with a dominant grappling effort, mitigating a significant number of leg kicks from Pereira. 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.

“It’s a wonderful, great feeling,” said Ankalaev (21-1-1), a native of Dagestan. “It’s a happy feeling. But I’m going to be working even harder because I’m the hunted man in the division now. Everybody’s going to be hunting for my belt. In order for me to hold it for a long time, I’m going to have to work even harder and even more intensely.”

Pereira’s loss ends a highly publicized streak of three defenses of the 205-pound title within the last year, a stretch that saw Pereira (12-3-0) 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. Though Pereira’s performance was largely flat, UFC president Dana White was hesitant to blame Saturday’s result on the Brazilian’s rising star.

“Everybody knew that Ankalaev was going to be a tough fight,” White said. “Everybody knew that this was going to be probably the biggest challenge of (Pereira’s) career. I wouldn’t take anything away from Ankalaev and the pressure that he put on Alex tonight. (Ankalaev) kept pushing forward even in the fifth round.”

When asked if he was leaning toward an immediate rematch, White simply answered “probably.” Ankalaev had no qualms with the idea.

“At the end of the fight, I heard he was saying that he wasn’t sure why the victory was given to me,” Ankalaev said. “He was running for 20 minutes and then he’s wondering who should get the victory. I’m happy for a rematch. If he wants a rematch, maybe he can fight for real instead of just running away the whole time.”

No. 3 lightweight Justin Gaetjhe (27-5) defeated No. 11 Rafeal Fiziev (12-4) by unanimous decision in UFC 313’s 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 Gaethjes record to 7-3 as an underdog in the UFC. Gaejhe 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. Gaethe’s victory was crowned fight of the night.

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 to a perfect 18-0 in the UFC, including Caio Borralho, Carlos Prates and Jean Silva. Ruffy’s highlight-reel knockout earned him the performance of the night bonus.

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

–Will Despart, Field Level Media