By Philip O’Connor
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) -Brazilian Alex Pereira scored a stunning first-round knockout win over Magomed Ankalaev to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 320 on Saturday night, with Merab Dvalishvili retaining his bantamweight crown in the co-main event.
The 38-year-old Pereira, who lost the title to Ankalaev by unanimous decision in March, wasted no time in chasing down his Russian opponent when the two met in their rematch at the T-Mobile Arena, rushing forward from the opening bell.
Pereira hurt his opponent with a thunderous right hand and as Ankalaev attempted to grapple, the Brazilian followed him to the ground, raining down strikes to the head and body that forced referee Herb Dean to intervene and stop the fight after one minute and 20 seconds of the first round.
“Vengeance is never a good thing. It’s kind of a poison. I told everyone I was not in a good condition last time, nobody believed it,” Pereira said in a post-fight interview. “I don’t like to make excuses, but I’ve been saying I wasn’t well that night (of the first fight), but tonight I’m very well.”
The Brazilian paid tribute to former NFL linebacker Arthur Jones, brother of former UFC champion Jon Jones, who died on Friday, observing a moment of silence before leaving the cage.
In the co-main event, Georgia’s Dvalishvili leveraged a relentless wrestling attack to out-class Sandhagen en route to a unanimous decision victory over the American as he secured his third successful title defence since winning the title for the first time in September 2024.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by William Mallard)
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