In a long-awaited matchup of extreme style contrasts at 205 pounds, Alex Pereira will defend his light heavyweight title on Saturday against top contender Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 in Las Vegas. Pereira is fresh off an insanely busy 2024 where he defended the title three times against Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr., scoring TKO wins over all three. Ankalaev, meanwhile, picked up a pair of wins in 2024 as well, viciously knocking out Johnny Walker before grinding out a decision over Aleksandr Rakic.
The pay-per-view card, which emanates from T-Mobile Arena, will also feature a light rematch in the co-main event as former interim titleholder Justin Gaethje welcomes late replacement Rafael Fiziev after a hand injury forced Dan Hooker to withdraw.
As we draw closer to this weekend’s fights, let’s take a closer look at the biggest storylines.
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1. Can Ankalaev be the Kryptonite to spoil Pereira’s title run?
That’s what critics have wondered for some time now, especially after UFC forced Ankalaev, as the No. 1 contender, into an unnecessary fight last October against Aleksandr Rakic (who was coming off of a two-fight losing skid) to allow Pereira to take a curious title defense against No. 7 Khalil Rountree Jr. just weeks earlier. It appears the oddsmakers also think Ankalaev is trouble as the fight remains a virtual pick ’em. Ankalaev, who fought to a disappointing draw against Jan Blachowicz in 2022 for the vacant title, brings everything from size and punching power to the dance along with the wrestling and sambo skills he learned growing up in Dagestan, Russia. Now, debate remains as to whether Ankalaev actually uses his wrestling enough in recent memory to make that a sizable weapon against “Poatan.” But Ankalev has routinely teased through the fight’s build that he’s prepared to expose the Brazilian slugger on the ground.
2. Win or lose, this could be the final fight at 205 pounds for Pereira
Obviously, the future remains unknown and depends upon a few different factors but it wouldn’t be out of line to suggest that a victory would signify almost a complete “cleaning out” of the division by Pereira. That alone, along with Pereira’s age (37), could mean a move up to heavyweight is imminent. The thing that might speed up this equation is that UFC is still struggling to make the must-see heavyweight unification fight between champion Jon Jones and interim titleholder Tom Aspinall. That’s a superfight all unto itself, but it remains to be seen whether UFC will pay Jones’ demand or whether “Bones” might just vacate his title and go home for good. Given the extreme lack of depth at heavyweight should Jones exit, giving Pereira the opportunity to attempt to become the first three-division champion in UFC history would make a ton of sense.
3. Dan Hooker’s injury opened up the door for Rafael Fiziev to seek redemption
Although UFC fans were disappointed when an injured hand pulled Hooker from his all-action showdown with Justin Gaethje in Saturday’s co-main event, given the available options on such short notice, Fiziev certainly made a lot of sense. The exciting kickboxer brought a six-fight winning streak into his 2023 bout against Gaethje, which Fiziev lost via majority decision. In Fiziev’s next fight, a knee injury suffered during his fight against Mateusz Gamrot resulted in a TKO loss and an 18-month recovery. At 31, Fiziev returns as a slight betting favorite against Gaethje with a major opportunity to catapult back into title contention should he avenge his defeat.
4. Plenty of questions surround Gaethje’s return to the Octagon
As one of the most exciting action fighters in MMA history, Gaethje has long fought with a “live by the sword, die by the sword” type of mentality. But an absolutely devastating knockout loss to Max Holloway last April at UFC 300 in their ceremonial BMF title bout left critics worried for his future. Yet, if anyone thinks the face-first fall Gaethje took in the final second of his five-round war against Holloway will lead to a more passive version of him in the future, the truth would be quite the opposite. Gaethje, who reined in his barbaric ways just a bit in recent years under head coach Trevor Whitman, which led to a run all the way to the interim lightweight title, has vowed to return to his pre-UFC days under the banner of World Series of Fighting. That version of Gaethje was an absolute wild man who walked into oncoming traffic inside the cage with no fear, remorse or delay. Gaethje’s justification for the return is that the more refined version of himself at his current age (36) has made him too careful and was the reason for his loss to Holloway. Given the damage Gaethje has taken over his exciting UFC run, it’s difficult to know whether his chin can hold up to this return to carnage.
5. Lack of depth continues to hamper inconsistent UFC pay-per-views
One month after the promotion rolled out a pair of title bouts and not much more on a very disappointing undercard for UFC 312 in Sydney, this weekend’s PPV offering from the world’s MMA leader is facing similar criticism. Fans will still get to enjoy the return of arguably UFC’s most beloved current star in Pereira, in quite possibly his toughest test to date at 205 pounds, no less, and a solid lightweight rematch in the co-main event. The rest of UFC 313, however, is a hodgepodge of somewhat familiar names coming off of multiple defeats against a striking number of inexperienced opponents who are glaringly lacking of Wikipedia pages. This is the new normal for UFC fans in recent years as parent company TKO continues to find ways to save money while increasing costs. Some PPV shows are still given the sexy matchmaking treatment but the predictability of that has increasingly surrounded the amount of money being paid by a particular cities’ local government to secure said events. That’s probably the best explanation for why places like Dubai and Miami have received preferred matchmaking of late.
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