Sixty-eight days remain until Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira begin their UFC Light Heavyweight Championship rematch, headlining UFC 320 in Las Vegas on Oct. 4.
Ankalaev beat Pereira at UFC 313 in March to win the light heavyweight strap, halting Pereira’s four-fight winning streak that included knockouts of Jiri Prochazka (x2), Jamahal Hill, and Khalil Rountree during his title run.
The unanimous decision win drew criticism from fans and media pundits who expected Pereira to win convincingly. However, one UFC analyst and former double-champion, Daniel Cormier, recently said that he expects the second fight to go differently.
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Oct 5, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Alex Pereira (red gloves) reacts after defeating Khalil Rountree Jr. (not pictured) in a light heavyweight title bout during UFC 307 at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
“This is the fight that needs to happen,” Cormier said on Good Guy/Bad Guy. “Pereira deserves the chance to try to right that wrong.
Cormier says if he can keep defending takedowns while being the faster fighter, anything is possible.
“Alex wrestled much better than we expected him to [at UFC 313]. He defended takedowns much better than we expected him to,” Cormier said. “Now it’s up to them, Plinio [Cruz] and Glover [Teixeira]…to make it to where Alex can actually go get it done and not get pressed up against the Octagon.”
Mar 8, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Magomed Ankalaev (blue gloves) reacts after the fight with Alex Pereira (not pictured) during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Cormier added Pereira can’t go into the fight thinking he’ll get an easy layup victory, either.
“I think he needs to get some respect from him very early, Chael, to make Ankalaev take a few steps back,” Cormier said. “How does Pereira get that respect early, to make sure that this fight doesn’t play out exactly like the last one did?”
Pereira’s loss to Ankalaev was his first in over a year, having been knocked out in his second fight against then-Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 in April 2023.
The fight serves as one-half of an October main event title spree, as Tom Aspinall defends his heavyweight title 21 days later against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi.
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