LAS VEGAS — UFC heads back to T-Mobile Arena for the first time in three months on Saturday, October 4, featuring Magomed Ankalaev (-260) taking on Alex Pereira (+210) in a rematch for the Light Heavyweight title in the Main Event, and Merab Dvalishvili (-400) taking on Cory Sandhagen (+300) for the Bantamweight belt.
UFC 320 is set to start with Early Prelims at 3 p.m., Prelims at 5 p.m. and the Main Card at 7 p.m.
Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2 is a fight that has been long-awaited, as the two fought at UFC 313 in March earlier this year. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili vs. Sandhagen will be a first-time fight between the champion, Dvalishvili, and the No. 4 contender, Sandhagen.
Pereira vs. Ankalaev 2
The last time these two Light Heavyweights fought in March, the “Poatan” Pereira (12-3-0) was riding a five-fight win streak — the past four of which ended before the fifth round by KO/TKO. Pereira certainly is no stranger to the belt, beating Israel Adesanya in November 2022 to hold it for the first time before losing the title five months later to the same opponent.
Pereira’s second title run was indeed strong, though, winning the belt for the second time just a year later against Jiří Procházka, who will fight on the Main Card on Saturday as well. Pereira then stormed through Jamahal Hill in the first round, Procházka in the pair’s rematch in the second round, and also nailing a late fourth-round TKO on Khalil Rountree Jr., before finally toeing off against Ankalaev, where his championship reign would fall by unanimous decision.
Ankalaev (21-1-1) similarly was strong heading into his first title victory in the UFC against Pereira. With two of his past three victories coming via TKO, it seemed that the Russian was the biggest test for Pereira in the division, due to the threat of not just his solid striking abilities but also his solid wrestling.
However, it came as a shock to those watching that Pereira had little issue with stuffing all 12 takedowns that Ankalaev threw. Despite the game plan of staying on the feet going in Pereira’s favor, Ankalaev did a great job getting the Brazilian to the fence and holding 5:42 of control time in the match, and outstriking Pereira by 30 total strikes, including 25 more to the head.
Pereira seemed on the back foot the entire time, but he later explained that there was a reason: Pereira was suffering from a broken hand and norovirus during the fight, claiming to be about 40% healthy, which was initially mentioned by commentator Joe Rogan and later confirmed by Pereira. The Poatan did say, though, that he did not want to use it as an excuse for the loss.
This makes the rematch extremely interesting, as if Pereira is truly healthy during the rematch and fights on his front foot, things could get tough for Ankalaev, who relied heavily on control time in the last fight to give himself breaks when trading against Pereira. An aggressive Poatan, though, might lead to increased opportunities for Ankalaev to bring the fight down to the canvas, which would certainly favor the Russian.
Ankalaev looks to add his first ruby to the belt with a successful title defense, while Pereira is looking to win the belt for the third time in his career.
Dvalishvili vs. Sandhagen
Dvalishvili (20-4-0) has asserted his dominance in the Bantamweight division, winning his past 13 matches, including his past six against some of the biggest names in the sport: Sean O’Malley (x2), Umar Nurmagomedov, Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan and José Aldo.
His latest fight indeed was one of his best, submitting O’Malley late in the third round to what he called a “machine choke” — likely after his nickname “The Machine” — which was a modified north-south choke. Before that, Dvalishvili dominantly beat Umar Nurmagomedov — with the greatest lightweight of all time, Khabib Nurmagomedov, in his corner — in Los Angeles at the Intuit Dome.
On the other side is another veteran in Sanhagen (18-5-0), who has won four of his past seven fights. Notably, Sandhagen lost to Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision, and looking back to 2021, he lost to Petr Yan in his only challenge for the title to date.
Sandhagen has a chance to upset the No. 3 Pound-for-Pound fighter in the UFC, who seemingly does everything exceptionally well. One positive for the American is that he is accustomed to five-round fights, having gone the distance in five out of his past seven. There is a reason, though, that Dvalishvili is called the Machine: his endurance is unmatched compared to everyone else.
Sandhagen faces an extremely tough challenge as the underdog, but avoiding takedowns and slowing the pace is an excellent start for the American to have a chance to win the belt for the first time in the UFC. Dvalishvili, though, will likely push the pace and enforce his spectacular wrestling once again to try and find his third straight title defense.
The Main Card of UFC 320 is set to start at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, October 4.