Magomed Ankalaev became the 18th undisputed light heavyweight champion following his victory over Alex Pereira in the UFC 313 main event.
Ankalaev produced a successful outing after controlling the pace and distances throughout the fight.
He entered the fight as the No. 1 contender after winning his last two fights. The Russian improves his record to 21-1-1 (1 NC).
The main card also featured fights between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev in a lightweight bout and Amanda Lemos taking on Iasmin Lucindo in a women’s strawweight division bout.
USA TODAY Sports has live coverage of Saturday’s action. Follow along for news, updates and highlights.
Pereira vs. Ankalaev highlights: Magomed Ankalaev wins
Ankalaev became the third fighter from Dagestan to become UFC champion.
UFC light heavyweight title fight: Magomed Ankalaev def. Alex Pereira
Round 1: The two fighters start off slow and manage to remain on their feet through the early minutes.
Round 2: Magomed Ankalaev was building his confidence as he landed several strikes, including one that rattled the champion right as time expired.
Round 3: Following a round that was too tough to call, both corners continue to tell their respective fighters to keep attempting strikes.
Round 4: Ankalaev maintained control of Pereira throughout the round but did not have the same level of explosiveness throughout the fight. The fight will go to the final round.
Round 5: Pereira lands a jab on Ankalaev during the final two minutes but is unable to capitalize. Ankalaev holds the champion against the side of the cage and throws knee strikes at the side of Pereira’s legs. Ankalaev managed to keep Pereira on the defensive and won the light heavyweight championship by unanimous decision.
Lightweight: Justin Gaethje def. Rafael Fiziev
Round 1: The opening minutes of the round featured a little bit of everything with several submission attempts and strikes being made before both decided to slow things down.
Round 2: Gaethje got the crowd excited in the final minute of the round after a right-handed uppercut rattled Fiziev and took him to the ground. He was able to deliver several more strikes before Fiziev worked his way back up on his feet.
Round 3: Fiziev showed signs of fatigue at the end of round three as both fighters gave it everything they had to finish out the fight. Gaethje earned a unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28. Gaethje said during the postfight interview that his hand might be broken.
Lightweight: Ignacio Bahamondes def. Jalin Turner
Round 1: Bahamondes earned a submission victory against Turner just 2:29 into the first round. Turner was in the process of landing strikes on Bahamondes but the Chilean fighter managed to get his legs around his opponent to secure the triangle choke.
Women’s strawweight: Amanda Lemos def. Iasmin Lucindo
Round 1: Lemos and Lucindo spent part of the opening round feeling each other out before the two ended up on the ground for the second half of the period. Lemos controlled the action on the ground for over two minutes after Lucindo developed a cut under her right eye from Lemos’ elbow.
Round 2: Lemos managed to get back on top of Lucindo to take control and throw occasional elbow strikes to the face of Lucindo. A series of boos were heard from the crowd because of the lack of action through the first two rounds.
Round 3: Lucindo’s corner was asking for her to wake up and come out more aggressive in the final period. Lucindo delivered with an aggressive approach that included taking down Lemos and controlling the early part of the round on top of her opponent. Lemos manages to use her feet against the cage to help her get free of Lucindo’s control. Lemos quickly got on top of her opponent to ride out the closing moments of the fight and earn the unanimous decision.
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Lightweight: Mauricio Ruffy def. King Green
Round 1: Ruffy stunned Green with a right-handed shot before landing a spin-kick to Green’s temple that sent him bouncing back against the cage and buckling down to the mat with 2:54 remaining in the first round.
Flyweight: Joshua Van def. Rei Tsuruya
Joshua Van has won six of his last seven UFC fights following the unanimous decision victory over Tsuruya.
Middleweight: Brunno Ferreira def. Armen Petrosyan
The referee had to call for an official’s timeout twice during the fight after Petrosyan’s leg strikes landed in Ferreira’s groin area. The referee did deduct a point from Petrosyan after the second stoppage. The referee proved to be overly cautious throughout the fight, putting a brief stop to the action again in the second round.
It was Ferreira’s strike to Petrosyan’s hip that led to the stoppage but it was clear on the replay that it wasn’t a dirty strike.
Ferreira brought Petrosyan down to the ground shortly after and performed an armbar in the second round (4:27) to force Petrosyan to submit. Ferreira improves to 13-2 in his career. He’s knocked out nine and submitted four.
Welterweight: Carlos Leal def. Alex Morono
The fighters exchanged heavy strikes with Leal landing over 70% of his attempts against Morono. Leal managed to back his opponent against the cage as they exchanged strikes before the referee stepped in to call the match early.
Featherweight: Mairon Santos def. Francis Marshall
Santos managed to be the more efficient fighter throughout the three-round fight and earned the split-decision victory. Santos improved his win streak to four and felt he managed to win the final two rounds to secure the victory. The crowd expressed their displeasure after the decision was announced.
UFC 313 Early Prelims results:
Ozzy Diaz def. Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos
UFC 313: Time, PPV, streaming for Pereira vs. Ankalaev
The highly anticipated matchup between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev will take place on Saturday, March 8, and can be purchased on ESPN+ PPV.
Date: Saturday, March 8
Early prelims start time: 6:30 p.m. ET
Stream: ESPN+, Disney+
Main Card Stream: ESPN+ PPV
Main Card start time: 10 p.m. ET
Location: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Catch UFC action with an ESPN+ subscription
UFC 313 prelim and main card start times
Early prelim has been updated with a new time of 7 p.m. ET.
Early Prelims: 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT (ESPN+/Disney+)
Prelims: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (ESPN News/ESPN+/Disney+)
Main card: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (PPV on ESPN+)
UFC 313: Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev card
Main Card:
UFC light heavyweight title: Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev
Lightweight: Justin Gaethje vs Rafael Fiziev
Lightweight: Jalin Turner vs Ignacio Bahamondes
Women’s strawweight: Amanda Lemos vs Iasmin Lucindo
Lightweight: King Green vs Mauricio Ruffy
Prelims:
Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes vs Rizvan Kuniev
Flyweight: Joshua Van vs Rei Tsuruya
Middleweight: Brunno Ferreira vs Armen Petrosyan
Welterweight: Alex Morono vs Carlos Leal
Featherweight: Mairon Santos vs Francis Marshall
Early Prelims:
Middleweight: Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos vs Osman Diaz
Featherweight: Chris Gutierrez vs John Castaneda
UFC 313 odds
All odds are for moneyline bets (as of Thursday), according to BetMGM.
Main Card:
UFC light heavyweight title: Alex Pereira (-120) vs Magomed Ankalaev (-100)
Lightweight: Justin Gaethje (+130) vs Rafael Fiziev (-155)
Lightweight: Jalin Turner (+110) vs Ignacio Bahamondes (-135)
Women’s strawweight: Amanda Lemos (+120) vs Iasmin Lucindo (-145)
Lightweight: King Green (+390) vs Mauricio Ruffy (-525)
Prelims:
Flyweight: Joshua Van (-165) vs Rei Tsuruya (+135)
Middleweight: Brunno Ferreira (+115) vs Armen Petrosyan (-140)
Welterweight: Alex Morono (+550) vs Carlos Leal (-800)
Early Prelims:
Featherweight: Mairon Santos (-275) vs Francis Marshall (+210)
Middleweight: Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos (-210) vs Osman Diaz (+170)
UFC 313 predictions:
MMA Junkie: Jamahal Hill picks Ankalaev
Staff writes regarding Jamahal Hill’s pick: “’I’m going to go with Magomed. I feel he has more tools to win,’ Hill said. ‘Obviously Alex has that one hit wonder. If he catches you, he can put you away, but I believe Magomed also has that. He has the speed, the patience to counter. He’s been in this position before. He already let the title slip out of his hands once before, and I believe he’ll be a lot more focused, locked in for this, and ultimately has more ways to win.’”
ESPN: Pereira to win by knockout
Staff writes: ‘He must use his range and educated striking to find the damaging shots, like he did against Rountree. The key will be leg kicks. Jan Blachowicz damaged Ankalaev’s legs on both sides, and Blachowicz is not nearly as slick setting up those kicks as Pereira is. Despite being a skilled wrestler, Ankalaev has often failed to commit to wrestling, opting to stand and trade, which will put him right in line for Pereira’s leg kicks. If that happens, Ankalaev will be compromised by Round 3, if the fight lasts that long.’
Sportskeeda: Alex Pereira via KO
Puneeta Sharma writes regarding Alexander Volkanovski’s pick: ‘Alex Pereira very dangerous because he puts the pressure on and he can flick stuff out untelegraphed and set things up offensively and then on the counter, very, very, very good on the counter. Hard, hard fight for Ankalaev to stay on the feet. [Ankalaev’s] gonna wanna take it down, he will try and take it down, he might get takedowns… I don’t see him being able to submit Pereira unless Pereira gives something up in his process to building up… I’m gonna go with a favorite on this one, Alex Pereira, KO. I’m gonna go with KO/TKO. I think with him, it’s always a pretty safe bet… I don’t think it’s gonna be early rounds. I’m thinking maybe second or third round TKO.’
UFC 313 live stream
The early prelims will be available to stream via ESPN+ and Disney+. The prelims follow with coverage on ESPN News as well as streaming on ESPN+ and Disney+. The main event is available on ESPN+ PPV.
UFC 313 price
UFC events are available to ESPN+ subscribers for $119.99 for the entire year. You can also purchase a monthly subscription of ESPN+ for $11.99. The PPV is available for an additional $79.99.
UFC 313 location
Alex Pereira defends his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev. The event will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev: Tale of the tape
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