Brazilian Alex Pereira scored a stunning first-round knockout win over Magomed Ankalaev to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 320 on Saturday night, with Merab Dvalishvili retaining his bantamweight crown in the co-main event.
The 38-year-old Pereira (13-3-0), who lost the title to Ankalaev (21-2-1) by unanimous decision in March, wasted no time in chasing down his Russian opponent when the two met in their rematch at the T-Mobile Arena, rushing forward from the opening bell.
Pereira hurt his opponent with a thunderous right hand and as Ankalaev attempted to grapple, the Brazilian followed him to the ground, raining down strikes to the head and body that forced referee Herb Dean to intervene and stop the fight after one minute and 20 seconds of the first round.
“Vengeance is never a good thing. It’s kind of a poison. I told everyone I was not in a good condition last time, nobody believed it,” Pereira said in a post-fight interview.
“I don’t like to make excuses, but I’ve been saying I wasn’t well that night (of the first fight), but tonight I’m very well.”
The 38-year-old Brazilian landed 28 of the 45 significant strike attempts, while Ankalaev, 33, was only able to land four of his nine attempts.
The 19,081 in attendance, which included Golden State Warriors stars Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, went into a frenzy the moment Dean stepped in to stop the fight.
Pereira paid tribute to former NFL linebacker Arthur Jones, brother of former UFC champion Jon Jones, who died on Friday, observing a moment of silence before leaving the cage.
Earlier in the night, in what some might have considered a title eliminator bout in the light heavyweight division for the right to face Pereira, second-ranked contender Jiri Prochazka (32-5-1) delivered a brutal left hand at the 3:04 mark of the third round to knock out Khalil Rountree Jr (15-7-0) in what earned the fight of the night.
In the co-main event, Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili leveraged a relentless wrestling attack to outclass Cory Sandhagen en route to a unanimous decision victory over the American as he secured his third successful title defence since winning the title for the first time in September 2024.
This news was originally published on this post .
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