Seven months ago, it was different for Alex Pereira.
The Brazilian striking star was a two-weight UFC champion on a five-fight win streak with big plans of perhaps invading a third weight class. And then he met light heavyweight challenger Magomed Ankalaev and it all came apart.
Pereira was out-struck, outmuscled and ultimately outpointed by the burly Russian in a main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where they return for a title rematch atop a 14-bout card whose five-bout main portion is packaged as UFC 320.
For Pereira, it’s a chance to resume the interrupted ascension.
“There were a lot of things going on around that night but this is a new fight,” Pereira told Bleacher Report. “This is a new opportunity. This is a new chance to go in there and make it right. Maybe I’ll talk about it later, or everything that happened, but, you know, as of right now, I’m just focused on this new opportunity.”
The show’s co-main event is also a championship bout, matching bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili in his third defense against No. 4 contender Cory Sandhagen, who’s won four of five since a foiled shot at an interim title four years ago.
The B/R combat team is in place to take it all in and deliver a real-time list of the show’s definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we come up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
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