LAS VEGAS — Alex Pereira said he wasn’t himself in March, when he surrendered his UFC light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev in a five-round decision. Saturday’s rematch indicated he wasn’t lying.
Pereira (14-3) reclaimed the championship at UFC 320 in dominant fashion, finishing Ankalaev (21-2-1) via TKO in just 80 seconds.
It was a stunning reversal from what happened seven months ago, when Pereira appeared hesitant and timid in what was his first loss in that weight class. In Saturday’s rematch, he practically ran out of his corner and put away Ankalaev while barely absorbing a strike.
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“Vengeance is never a good thing, it’s kind of a poison sometimes,” Pereira said through an interpreter in his postfight Octagon interview. “I told everyone I was not in good condition last time. Everyone saw it tonight.”
Before the rematch, Pereira’s team told ESPN that he fought in March with a fractured tibia. He was also sick in the weeks before the event and was placed on antibiotics. He took some time away from the gym after the loss to Ankalaev, and it clearly paid off.
Pereira was the aggressor from the opening bell Saturday, immediately knocking down Ankalaev with a right hand to the chin and finishing the bout with elbows from top position.
It was the 12th knockout win of Pereira’s relatively short MMA career. He was a two-weight champion during his professional kickboxing career that spanned from 2012 to 2021.
Alex Pereira avenged his March defeat to Magomed Ankalaev to recapture his light heavyweight crown with a first-round stoppage victory Saturday night. Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
As for Pereira’s next fight, two logical possibilities are Jiri Procházka and Carlos Ulberg, ESPN’s Nos. 3 and 4 light heavyweights, respectively. Pereira also has made no secret of his interest in a potential move up to the heavyweight division.
In his postfight news conference Saturday night, UFC CEO Dana White expressed some reluctance toward Pereira making that move, saying it would be a difficult one for a fighter who began his UFC career as a middleweight.
“He was a middleweight, and he’s gonna jump up two weight classes in the UFC?” White said. “It’s not like jumping up two weight classes in boxing. It’s a big jump. And it’s not that I have any reservations about it. He’s in a division that there’s still some interesting fights.
“I don’t know, I like the guy so much. We’ll see. We’ll have to talk about it.”
