Alex Pereira’s takedown defense held up, but his light heavyweight championship reign did not.
Magomed Ankalaev blended timely striking with occasional clinch work to capture a hard-fought unanimous decision triumph against “Poatan” in the UFC 313 headliner on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While Pereira was never taken down in the bout, he seemed hesitant to open up with his own offense against the Dagestani challenger. As a result, the popular Brazilian came up short in his attempt to successfully defend the light heavyweight belt for a fourth time.