Browsing: Reclaim

Alex Pereira is once again at the top of the UFC light heavyweight mountain, scoring a first-round TKO win over Magomed Ankalaev to reclaim his title in the UFC 320 main event.

The win is another huge bullet point on a Hall of Fame resume. Pereira is now a three-time champion with two different title reigns at light heavyweight.

Poatan came into the bout as a sizable underdog after Ankalaev handed him a unanimous decision loss in their first fight. But beating a fighter as good as Pereira twice is a tall task.

Ankalaev looked dominant in the first fight against Pereira. Now Poatan has evened the score, but that doesn’t mean a trilogy is coming up next. The new champion poured water on that theory ahead of the rematch.

“I think the story will be over,” Pereira recently told MMA Junkie through an interpreter via Stake. “It’s obviously out of my control. It’s up to the UFC. If they want to do it again, I’ll fight anyone. To be honest, from everything we’ve seen, I think with him losing, I don’t think he’s going to fight for the title anymore.”

That logic would track with Pereira. He only fought Israel Adesanya twice in the UFC even though a third fight would have done big business.

Instead, Pereira could now look to take on Carlos Ulberg. He’s the name with a lot of buzz after a first-round knockout victory over Dominick Reyes in Australia a week ago.

Either way, Pereira has once again established himself as the top light heavyweight in the organization and one of the most feared fighters in the UFC.

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