Magomed Ankalaev stuns Alex Pereira early, grinds his way to claim title with decision win in UFC 313 main event

Magomed Ankalaev finally realized his dream to become champion while taking out arguably the sport’s biggest star with a unanimous decision win over Alex Pereira in the UFC 313 main event.

The key to victory came down to Ankalaev sticking to a smart strategy that involved constant pressure, coming after Pereira with well-timed strikes and then grinding him against the cage late to secure the victory. The best punch of the fight also came from Ankalaev after he stunned Pereira with a huge left hook in the second round that rattled the Brazilian and seemingly put him on the defensive for the majority of the remainder of the fight.

The final scorecards read 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 with Ankalaev securing the victory and becoming the new UFC light heavyweight champion.

“I can’t even put it into words,” Ankalaev said after the win. “It’s been such a long way and here’s my dream. It’s on my waist. I don’t think anything surprised me. I think I could have done a better job in the fight. But something just wasn’t working out but anyway I’m really happy that I won.”

While Ankalaev was celebrating, a disappointed Pereira was stuck figuring out where it all went wrong but it didn’t take him long to realize how the judges almost assuredly scored those long, extended grappling sessions against the cage.

“I knew it would be a war. Every fight of mine is a war,” Pereira said. “He put some pressure in the second round. I felt some of his strikes but putting me up against the cage, he didn’t really do anything. We followed our strategy.

“We know that he puts people against the fence and he plays that game. Giving him the win with a game plan like that kind of incentivizes people to do that against people. People might say it’s a boring style but when a guy gets a win doing that, it kind of makes people want to do that, too. I hurt him against the fence, the only difference was I was the one against the fence.”

The reality of the fight came down to Ankalaev realizing the best possible strategy to stifle Pereira’s striking and it paid off after 25 hard minutes.

“The plan was to pressure, pressure, pressure,” Ankalaev said. “Everybody who fights against him always counter but my job was to make sure that I work as No. 1 and everyone who fights against me becomes the counter striker and my plan worked.”

At the start of the fight, it was Pereira who wasted no time chipping away at Ankalaev’s foundation with several calf kicks as he looked to set the tone. That immediately affected Ankalaev’s movement, although he started to settle into a better rhythm to come back at Pereira with combinations of his own.

A late takedown attempt from Ankalaev in the opening round got stuffed and he went to the corner with some serious damage already done to his lead leg from the steady diet of kicks that Pereira was feeding him.

While Ankalaev was almost limping on that lead leg, he was still setting up kicks of his own with several stiff shots connecting to Pereira’s midsection. Pereira was coiled like a snake just waiting to strike but Ankalaev showed no fear coming after him with huge overhand left that popped the champion on the chin.

That forced Pereira to get more active but that also backfired when Ankalaev surged forward with a huge left hook that blasted the Brazilian and twisted his head around. Pereira’s legs buckled and Ankalaev came after him but the round ended before he could potentially go for the finish.

Ankalaev’s aggression and accuracy was stifling a lot of the typical output from Pereira, but he was still dangerous whenever he uncorked one of his biggest punches. Still, Ankalaev was showing no fear coming forward and he stunned Pereira again with a slick straight right hand that came down the pipe and connected clean.

As the fight moved into the championship rounds, Ankalaev turned to his grappling really for the first time but Pereira defended well against the cage. While he wasn’t scoring takedowns, Ankalaev kept putting the pressure on him and forcing Pereira to battle so he could maintain his position.

While it wasn’t producing the most exciting fight, Ankalaev was starting to wear on Pereira with his grappling and still peppering away at him with inside punches and knees to the body.

With five minutes remaining, Ankalaev opened with a huge right hook that Pereira ate well but it was still a good shot landed. In return, Pereira started advancing forward for the first time in a long while and he snapped off a huge head kick that definitely got Ankalaev’s attention.

To his credit, Ankalaev came right back at him with a hard right hand but Pereira’s accuracy was starting to give him some problems. Pereira snapped off a couple of stiff jabs before Ankalaev rushed forward to grab onto the clinch with the Russian trying to take the back with the fighters battling for position against the cage.

While he couldn’t get the takedown, Ankalaev blasted him with some hard knees to the legs but time ran as he attempted to secure the victory.

The scorecards could have been all over the place, especially with a few close rounds, but the judges didn’t provide any controversy after all with Ankalaev getting the nod via unanimous decision. He now gets the chance to celebrate as champion while Pereira likely begins formulating a plan to potentially get an immediate rematch.

“I’m going to keep training,” Pereira said when asked what comes next. “I feel good. I don’t think I’m hurt in any way. I’m going to take a few days off and get back to training. This is my life.”