Alex Pereira will defend his light heavyweight crown against Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 313 main event on March 8.
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The promotion announced the booking during the UFC 311 broadcast on Saturday night. Additionally, Justin Gaethje will square off against Dan Hooker in a five-round, co-main event clash. UFC 313 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.While Pereira recently hinted that he wouldn’t be facing Ankalaev next, perhaps that was a bit of gamesmanship from the popular Brazilian. A former UFC middleweight champion, “Poatan” is 5-0 since moving up to 205 pounds. He claimed the vacant light heavyweight belt with a second-round stoppage of Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 and has since defended the strap with successive stoppages against Jamahal Hill, Prochazka and Khalil Rountree.
Ankalaev, meanwhile, is unbeaten in his last 13 Octagon appearances. His initial shot at championship gold came against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 282, but the bout …