The UFC returns to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 313, featuring a light heavyweight title fight between reigning champion Alex Pereira and No. 1 contender Magomed Ankalaev in the main event. The co-main event is a rematch between No. 3-ranked lightweight contender Justin Gaethje and No. 11-ranked Rafael Fiziev. This fight came together just a week ago after Gaethje’s original opponent, Dan Hooker, suffered a fractured hand in training.
In the main event, Magomed Ankalaev secured a unanimous decision victory over Alex Pereira to become the new light heavyweight champion. Ankalaev extended his winning streak to 14 fights, while Pereira’s five-fight win streak came to an end as he lost his belt following three successful title defenses in 2024. Throughout the fight, Pereira struggled to build momentum, often fighting off his back foot due to Ankalaev’s forward pressure. Unable to find his signature left hook, Pereira spent most of the fight looking for opportunities to counter, which Ankalaev never gave him.
Leading up to the fight, most of the discussion centered on how Pereira would handle Ankalaev’s wrestling. However, Ankalaev instead found success with his striking, even wobbling “Poatan” against the fence at the end of the second round. Pereira was effective with his signature low kicks, but Ankalaev ultimately outstruck him 127 to 97. While Ankalaev failed to land any of his 11 takedown attempts, he successfully mixed in grappling, accumulating over five minutes of control time. This fatigued Pereira and stifled his offense. The fight was competitive and a rematch later in the year wouldn’t be surprising.
In the co-main event, Justin Gaethje secured a decision victory over Rafael Fiziev for the second time in two years. Fiziev was the aggressor in the first round, taking Gaethje down twice and winning the striking exchanges by targeting the body and finding success in the clinch. However, Gaethje worked his way back into the fight in the second round, landing heavier counters, including a right uppercut that dropped Fiziev late in the round.
Fiziev started strong in the third but struggled to maintain his pace, while Gaethje remained composed and dictated the exchanges for the rest of the fight. Since his submission loss to Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title in 2022, Gaethje has won three of his last four fights. This second win over Fiziev puts him in good position as a title contender as the UFC’s current No. 3-ranked lightweight.
A strong end to Round 2 for the challenger 👀@AnkalaevM | #UFC313 pic.twitter.com/6A45hoJ259
— UFC (@ufc) March 9, 2025
GAETHJE DROPS FIZIEV WITH THE UPPERCUT 😳
— UFC (@ufc) March 9, 2025
[ #UFC313] pic.twitter.com/IpSnl9iXmh
UFC 312 Fight Card Results
- Magomed Ankalaev def. (c) Alex Pereira via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
- Justin Gaethje def. Rafael Fiziev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ignacio Bahamondes def. Jalin Turner via submission (triangle choke) at 2:29 of Round 1
- Amanda Lemos def. Iasmin Lucindo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mauricio Ruffy def. King Green via KO (spinning wheel kick) at 2:07 of Round 1
- Joshua Van def. Rei Tsuruya via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Brunno Ferreira def. Armen Petrosyan via submission (armbar) at 4:27 of Round 2
- Carlos Leal def. Alex Morono via TKO (strikes) at 4:16 of Round 1
- Mairon Santos def. Francis Marshall via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ozzy Diaz def. Djorden Santos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
