Magomed
Ankalaev stared into the eyes of a Brazilian boogeyman and did
not blink.
Relentless forward pressure, clubbing power punches and a
suffocating clinch game spurred Ankalaev to a unanimous decision
over Alex
Pereira, as he captured the undisputed Ultimate Fighting
Championship light heavyweight crown in the
UFC 313 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
All three members of the judiciary sided with Ankalaev (20-1-1,
12-1-1 UFC): 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47.
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Pereira (12-3, 9-2 UFC) invested heavily in kicks to the lower lead
leg, and they seemed to pay dividends initially. However, Ankalaev
connected with the most impactful strike of the match near the end
of the second round, where he staggered the champion with a clean
left hook. Pereira survived but looked uncharacteristically gun-shy
as the bout progressed. A closely contested third round gave way to
a lopsided fourth for Ankalaev, who trapped “Poatan” along the
fence in a domineering clinch that allowed him to fire knees to the
body, sap more steam out of his opponent and bleed valuable time
off the clock. Pereira appeared to rattle the challenger with a
head kick in the fifth round but failed to follow up with anything
of real substance—a development that came back to bite him once the
scores were read.
Meanwhile, onetime World Series of Fighting champion Justin
Gaethje moved to 2-0 in his head-to-head series against
Rafael
Fiziev with a unanimous decision over the Tiger Muay Thai
export in their three-round lightweight co-main event. Gaethje
(26-5, 9-5 UFC)—who won their first meeting by majority decision in
2023—swept the scorecards with matching 29-28 marks across the
board.
A short-notice substitution for Dan Hooker,
Fiziev (12-4, 6-4 UFC) battered the Arizona native with close-range
knee strikes and crushing kicks to the body. Gaethje refused to
wilt. He decked Fiziev with a right uppercut in the second round
and made a strong closing argument in the third. There, the Trevor
Wittman disciple uncorked clubbing power punches from both hands,
scored with dirty boxing in the clinch and even managed to connect
with a pair of head kicks. Fatigue eventually took hold of Fiziev
and cut off any possibility of a late rally.
It was the third straight loss for Fiziev, who returned to the
stage for the first time since he tore his ACL in a loss to
Mateusz
Gamrot at UFC Fight Night 228 some 500 days ago.
Further down the main card, VFS Academy standout Ignacio
Bahamondes put away Jalin
Turner with a triangle choke in the first round of their
lightweight showcase. Bahamondes (17-5, 6-2 UFC) closed it out 2:29
into Round 1, nailing down his first submission victory in more
than three years.
Turner (14-9, 7-6 UFC) plowed into top position inside the first
minute and set out to unleash his elbows. However, he lingered too
long in the venomous Bahamondes guard and soon found himself
entangled in the Chilean’s long legs. Before Turner could react,
the choke was in place. Bahamondes tightened his squeeze on “The
Tarantula” and prompted the tapout.
The 27-year-old Bahamondes has won three fights in a row, all of
them first-round finishes.
Elsewhere, ex-Jungle Fight titleholder Amanda
Lemos rode repeated takedowns, copious amounts of control time
and intermittent ground-and-pound to a unanimous decision over
Iasmin
Lucindo in a three-round women’s strawweight attraction. All
three cageside judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Lemos (15-4-1,
9-4 UFC).
Lucindo (17-6, 4-2 UFC) was a non-factor for much of the 15-minute
encounter. Lemos executed takedowns in all three rounds, opened a
cut under the Fight House rep’s right eye with a slashing standing
elbow and dictated the terms of their engagement for two-plus
rounds. Lucindo rallied for a time in the third—she secured a
takedown of her own—but never truly turned the corner against her
fellow Brazilian.
The setback snapped a four-fight winning streak for Lucindo.
Finally, the surging Mauricio
Ruffy leveled former King of the Cage champion Bobby Green
with a perfectly executed spinning wheel kick in the first round of
their lightweight appetizer. Green (32-17-1, 13-12-1 UFC) met his
end 2:07 into Round 1, losing for the third time in four
outings.
Ruffy (12-1, 3-0 UFC) pressed forward, backed his counterpart to
the fence and stepped into the kick. Heel struck face with violent
precision, and Green crashed to the canvas facedown and
unconscious, the unwitting victim of an early contender for
“Knockout of the Year.”
The 28-year-old Ruffy has rattled off seven straight wins.
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