Overview

• Magomed Ankalaev defends the light-heavyweight title against former champion Alex Pereira in a rematch at T-Mobile Arena, seven months after Ankalaev won a unanimous decision at UFC 313.
• BetMGM lists Ankalaev around -265 and Pereira +210, with many analysts and at least one AI model leaning toward an Ankalaev decision, though opinions vary.
• Coach Sukhrab Magomedov dismissed Pereira’s striking threat on UFC Countdown, calling him an “old kickboxer” with “standard” techniques and predicting a more dominant performance from Ankalaev.
• Pereira says he was about 40% in the first fight, cites a revamped camp and conditioning, and vows to deliver a stronger performance, while signaling he expects no trilogy and views Carlos Ulberg as a likely next opponent if he wins.
• The main card also features Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen for the bantamweight title and Jiří Procházka vs. Khalil Rountree Jr., with rising contender Ulberg fresh off a KO of Dominick Reyes and offering to serve as backup for the headliner.