Alex Pereira won back the light heavyweight title with a technical knockout of Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320 in Las Vegas.Published On 5 Oct 20255 Oct 2025Click here to share on social mediashare2ShareAlex Pereira has caused a boilover at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 320 with a first-round technical knockout (TKO) of heavily favoured Magomed Ankalaev in Las Vegas, regaining his undisputed light heavyweight championship belt and avenging his defeat by the Russian seven months earlier.Pereira took only one minute and 20 seconds to defeat Ankalaev after he dropped the 33-year-old champion with a huge right hook less than a minute into the contest on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe Brazilian then finished off the fight with a flurry of punches and elbows before the match referee called off the bout.Ankalaev, who had never been knocked out in a UFC match, had his 14-match unbeaten run ended, going back to his promotional debut at a UFC Fight Night in March 2018.Pre-fight, Pereira was the decided underdog, with Ankalaev backed by 89 percent of the fight bets at BetMGM.Ankalaev (20-2-1, 12-2-1 UFC) had already beaten Pereira (13-3, 10-2 UFC) in their first bout at UFC 313 on March 8. Pereira claimed he fought at just 40 percent of his usual capabilities due to injury.Pereira’s victory makes him a two-time UFC light heavyweight champion.The 38-year-old’s victory revives the light heavyweight title picture, taking the belt from a fighter in Ankalaev who did little to inspire hope for the future of the division. With Jiri Prochazka also winning his bout by stunning knockout, it awakened the potential for a third bout against Pereira for the belt. Pereira, right, punches Magomed Ankalaev in the first round moments before the fight was stopped by the match referee due to technical knockout [Sean M Haffey/Getty Images via AFP]In the earlier co-main event championship bout, Merab Dvalishvili (21-4-0) defended his undisputed bantamweight crown with a unanimous decision against Cory Sandhagen (18-6-0) in their five-round contes …
