Alex Pereira vs. Magomedov Ankalaev title fight headlines UFC 313 in March

After a historic 2024 campaign, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has his first assignment of the new year.

Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) will attempt to make a fourth consecutive defense of his belt when he takes on streaking contender Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) in the main event of UFC 313, which takes place March 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).

The UFC announced the booking during Saturday’s UFC 311 broadcast.

Pereira, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie pound-for-pound rankings and No. 1 at light heavyweight, defended his belt three times in a record 175-day span this past year, knocking out Jamahal Hill in April, Jiri Prochazka in July and Khalil Rountree in October.

“Poatan” has been open that he hasn’t been keen on the way No. 2-ranked Ankalaev has approached making the fight happen and was going to resist it, if possible, but ultimately the matchup came together.

It will be the second chance at gold for Ankalaev, who fought Jan Blachowicz to a draw in a vacant title bout at UFC 282 in December 2022. That result was part of his current 13-fight unbeaten streak, which dates back to his lone career loss against Paul Craig in March 2018.

Now Ankalaev, 32, will get another opportunity to rule the division, and he has claimed he will stand and strike with the world-class kickboxer Pereira, 37.

The latest UFC 313 lineup now includes: