Pereira has already arrived in Las Vegas with his team ahead of a fifth-straight title fight and seventh championship bout out of 11 UFC outings, and \u201cPoatan\u201d made sure to show off some of his vaunted striking for fans ahead of UFC 320. <\/p>\n
READ MORE: GLORY kickboxing champion gets opponent for MMA debut, UFC veteran headlines card<\/a><\/p>\n “Poatan” translates to “Stone hands” in the indigenous Tupi language… it’s easy to understand why Alex Pereira was given that nickname in his latest training video \ud83d\udca5 #UFC320<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfd\ufe0f @AlexPereiraUFC<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7Wg2usS3rd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) September 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The Brazilian\u2019s first meeting with Ankalaev was his sixth light heavyweight outing since defeating Jan Blachowciz <\/a>at UFC 291. The move to 205 lbs. followed back-to-back fights with his former kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya<\/a>, who knocked out Pereira in their immediate rematch at UFC 287 to reclaim the middleweight belt that he\u2019d lost at UFC 281. <\/p>\n While his UFC record does include a draw against Blachowicz and No Contest against Johnny Walker in back-to-back fights, Ankalaev is unbeaten dating back to an infamous UFC debut where the recently-retired Paul Craig <\/a>submitted him with a triangle choke in the final second of their meeting in 2018.<\/p>\n READ MORE: UFC Rio card updated with late replacement set to challenge veteran finisher<\/a><\/p>\n Ankalaev rebounded from that stunning upset with nine-straight wins before he and Blachowicz fought to a draw in a fight for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 282. A stoppage-win in his rematch with Walker and unanimous decision over Aleskandar Rakic finally earned Ankalaev a second title shot against Pereira at UFC 313, where the 33-year-old largely stifled the champion\u2019s offense in order to finally win UFC gold. <\/p>\n Magomed Ankalaev (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Alex Pereira (not pictured) during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena. \/ Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n The rematch between Ankalaev and Pereira will close out a stacked UFC 320 card in Las Vegas, and a UFC belt will also be on the line in the night\u2019s co-main event when Merab Dvalishvili tries to defend his bantamweight title for the third time against #4-ranked contender Cory Sandhagen.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0UFC veteran ends 11-fight losing streak, retires after 59-fight MMA career<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0UFC Qatar reportedly adds two more fights as UFC fans wait on main event news<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Daniel Cormier backs Jon Jones amid Dana White’s hesitancy for UFC White House card <\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Lightweight rival torches Charles Oliveira in callout for UFC Rio main event<\/a><\/p>\n Stick with\u00a0MMAKnockout<\/a>\u00a0for more FREE coverage of the UFC and MMA.<\/p>\n Follow MMAKnockout on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n