LAS VEGAS — Fan favourite Alex Pereira dethroned Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320, taking the sunshine heavyweight championship with a first-round stoppage Saturday evening.
Pereira (13-3-0) floored Ankalaev (21-2-1) after hurting him with an enormous proper hand and rapidly went to work utilizing thunderous elbows throughout a ground-and-pound earlier than referee Herb Dean stepped in to cease the bout on the 1:20 mark.
Pereira introduced an finish to Ankalaev’s 14-match unbeaten streak, whereas exacting revenge for a loss within the fighters’ first assembly in March.
“I wasn’t nicely that evening, however tonight I used to be very nicely,” Pereira stated by means of his translator.
Pereira misplaced to Ankalaev by unanimous choice on March 8, when the judges graded the battle on aggressiveness. This time, Pereira wasted no time in attacking Ankalaev with relentless strain.
The 38-year-old Brazilian landed 28 of the 45 vital strike makes an attempt, whereas Ankalaev, 33, was solely in a position to land 4 of his 9 makes an attempt.
Pereira closed +200 at BetMGM Sportsbook, which implies a $100 wager would have received $200. A Pereira by KO or TKO in below 2.5 rounds was +475.
Whereas Pereira entered the world with the sold-out crowd standing and roaring in approval, Ankalaev was greeted by a refrain of boos.
The 19,081 in attendance, which included Golden State Warriors stars Draymond Inexperienced and Jimmy Butler and Los Angeles Rams broad receiver Puka Nacua, went right into a frenzy the second Dean stepped in to cease the battle.
Earlier within the evening, in what some might need thought-about a title eliminator bout within the mild heavyweight division for the fitting to face Pereira, second-ranked contender Jiri Prochazka (32-5-1) delivered a brutal left hand on the 3:04 mark of the third spherical to knock out No. 4 Khalil Rountree Jr. (15-7-0) in what earned the battle of the evening.
Pereira had crushed Prochazka twice already, second-round knockouts at UFC 295 and 303.
After his victory, Pereira used his highlight in the course of the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan to name for a second of silence in honor of Jon Jones’ older brother, Arthur, who died unexpectedly earlier this week.
“He was such an awesome man,” UFC president Dana White stated. “When any person passes away so younger of their sleep, it’s brutal. The conversations I’ve had with Jon, he’s dealing with it nicely.”
Within the co-main occasion, champion Merab Dvalishvili (21-4-0) efficiently defended his bantamweight title with a unanimous choice (49-45, 49-45, 49-46) over Cory Sandhagen (18-6-0). Dvalishvili, who strengthened his argument a Fighter of the 12 months contender, registered a UFC report for takedowns landed (20) with 37 makes an attempt. His victory prolonged the division’s longest-ever win streak at 14 fights.
Of their scheduled three-round featherweight bout, the shocked crowd watched No. 9 contender Youssef Zalal (18-5-1) prime No. 8 Josh Emmett (19-6-0) by the use of verbal submission at 1:38 of the primary spherical with a depraved arm bar.
Within the scheduled three-round middleweight bout, Joe Pyfer (15-3) got here out aggressive within the second rout with two fast punches to drop Abus Magomedov (28-7-1), after which dominated on the bottom till successful by submission through rear bare choke on the 1:44 mark.
