Alex Pereira loses title to Magomed Ankalaev

Magomed Ankalaev is UFC light heavyweight champion.

In the UFC 313 main event Saturday, Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) upset Alex Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) to earn gold at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The fight was close throughout. After a strong tactical round from Pereira in the opening five minutes, Ankalaev answered majorly in Round 2. After he found a home for his left hand multiple times earlier in the round, Ankalaev stunned Pereira with a massive one in the final 10 seconds.

Pereira shook out the cobwebs between rounds. Round 3 was arguably the closest of the fight. While Ankalaev was the aggressor and seemed more comfortable, a visibly desperate Pereira landed counterstrikes while on the retreat.

Round 4 was the slowest of the five as Ankalaev utilized his clinch work against the cage. Round 5 was another closely contested chess match of a striking contest – perhaps the second-closest round of the fight.

When the dust settled, “And New” came out of Bruce Buffer’s mouth and one of the sport’s biggest stars left without hardware.

With the win, Ankalaev is 12-0-1 with one contest in 14 appearances since a promotional debut loss to Paul Craig. Pereira has a five-fight winning streak snapped and loses at light heavyweight for the first time.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 313 results include:

• Magomed Ankalaev def. Alex Pereira via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
• 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
• Joshua Van def. Rei Tsuruya via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Brunno Ferreira def. Armen Petrosyan via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 1:27
• 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)
• Ozzy Diaz def. Djorden Santos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.