LAS VEGAS — Magomed Ankalaev entered the Octagon as public enemy No. 1 to fan favorite Alex Pereira and left as the new UFC light heavyweight champion Saturday night in the main event of UFC 313.
Ankalaev beat «Poatan» to the punch in the first half of the fight and smothered his offense with clinch work in the second half. His stifling performance put a disappointing end to Pereira's historic light heavyweight title run, sucking the air out of T-Mobile Arena in a unanimous decision: Two judges scored it 48-47 and a third judge had it 49-46.
«I don't think anything surprised me,» Ankalaev said. «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.»
UFC president Dana White said afterward that an immediate rematch will «probably» happen.
Pereira (14-3), who rose to stardom over the past year and a half, had a chance to make history by becoming the first UFC fighter to successfully win a title fight five times in less than 500 days. He didn't get anything going, however, as Ankalaev (20-1-1) forced him to fight off his back foot for much of the bout. The pressure prevented Pereira from uncorking his signature left hook and was relegated to looking for counter opportunities, which Ankalaev never gave him.
Pereira deliberately targeted Ankalaev's legs with calf kicks in the opening round, hoping to compromise the challenger's mobility. It was a solid start as 11 of 14 leg kicks landed, but Ankalaev stayed on the front foot.
Ankalaev shifted the momentum in the second round as he surprisingly beat Pereira to the punch. A left hand stunned Pereira midway through the round and a right hand rocked him in the final seconds.
As the fight wore on and
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