Fight By Fight Preview | UFC 320: Ankalaev vs Pereira 2
Setting The Stage For Saturday’s Mammoth Pay-Per-View Event At T-Mobile Arena
By E. Spencer Kyte, On X @spencerkyte
Maybe it’s the fact that the last six weeks on Dana White’s Contender Series have been absolutely electric in terms of the action inside the Octagon or a little twinge of withdrawal after rolling through September without a pay-per-view event, but there is something about UFC 320 this weekend that makes my “this is going to be a great show” senses tingle.
From the opening bout to the light heavyweight championship main event, Saturday’s return to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is flush with competitive fights, compelling fighters looking to make a statement, and crucial pairings in several key divisions, all capped by a pair of outstanding title fights that are sure to set the building alight.
Ready to start getting fired up for what is set to come your way this weekend? Of course you are — here’s the Fight-By-Fight Preview for UFC 320: Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2.
Light Heavyweight Championship Main Event: Magomed Ankalaev vs Alex Pereira
Seven months after their initial encounter, Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira share the Octagon for a second time, with the UFC light heavyweight title once again hanging in the balance.
Ankalaev surprised a lot of people by winning a relatively clear decision over “Poatan” back at UFC 313 in March, where he did well to utilize feints, pressure, and a steady diet of effective strikes to keep the Brazilian knockout artist out of rhythm and unable to connect with anything of real significance. As much as many were taken aback by the outcome, they probably shouldn’t have been, as the 33-year-old Russian had always been on a championship trajectory and hadn’t lost a fight since his promotional debut, entering on a 13-fight unbeaten streak.
For the first time since his divisional debut, Pereira enters Saturday’s contest off a loss, looking to get things moving in the right direction again and claim championship gold for the third time in his UFC career. There were positive moments for the imposing striker the first time around — he won the opening round on all three scorecards, for instance — but it will take a more sustained, more active effort in order to wrest the title away from Ankalaev this weekend.
There are clearly tensions between these two, and that only ramps up the anticipation for Saturday’s main event even more. Rematches often feel like truth serum, a means of finding out if the first encounter was a true representation of how things will routinely play out between the two parties or an anomalous result that will be rectified the second time around. But this is one of those cases where both things could be true: Ankalaev is elite and very much earned the victory the first time around, but a greater offensive output from Pereira and a different outcome this weekend wouldn’t surprise anyone either.
Sit back, buckle up, and enjoy.
Bantamweight Championship Co-Main Event: Merab Dvalishvhili vs Cory Sandhagen
Before the light heavyweight title goes up for grabs, bantamweight titleholder Merab Dvalishvili goes in search of his third successful title defense of the year, putting the strap on the line against dynamic and deserving challenger Cory Sandhagen.
“The Machine” used the first half of the year to cement his standing as the best bantamweight on the planet and the frontrunner for Fighter of the Year. In January, he pushed a torrid pace and rallied to defeat previously unbeaten challenger Umar Nurmagomedov to register the first defense of the title he won last year at Noche UFC. Then at the start of June, he ventured to Newark, New Jersey, and handed former champ Sean O’Malley a second straight defeat, repeatedly dragging him to the canvas before forcing him to tap to a modified guillotine choke late in the third round, extending his overall winning streak to a baker’s dozen in the process.
Sandhagen arrives for his first shot at the undisputed bantamweight title off an outstanding performance against Deiveson Figueiredo in May, and having won four of his last five. The Denver native is a technically sharp, reactive fighter with the ability to finish in multiple phases and a deep gas tank that has allowed him to work at a high clip deep into fights in the past.
Is it enough to match Dvalishvili’s torrid pace and push the Georgian standout in a way that he hasn’t been pushed since his memorable brawl with Marlon Moraes at UFC 266? There is only one way to find out, and that’s to tune in on Saturday when these two step into the Octagon and get after it.
Additional Main Card Matchups
Jiri Prochazka vs Khalil Rountree Jr.
The middle bout on this weekend’s pay-per-view card is a potentially combustible clash between recent light heavyweight title challengers Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr..
Since being forced to relinquish the title due to injury in late 2022, Prochazka has gone 2-2 inside the Octagon, toggling between getting stopped by Pereira and stopping talented contender Aleksandar Rakic and former champ Jamahal Hill. The soon-to-be 33-year-old Czech standout remains an all-action fighter to his core and one of the most consistently dangerous fighters on the UFC roster.
Rountree Jr. opened a lot of eyes a year ago when he pushed Pereira into the fourth round of their championship clash in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he sat “Poatan” down a couple times and was ahead on the scorecards before the champion rallied to earn the win. The Las Vegas local returned to action in June, finally sharing the Octagon with Hill after several false starts, coming away with a unanimous decision win to set up this pivotal showdown with Prochazka on Saturday.
As much as these two will be paying close attention to the main event, neither can overlook the other for even a second or else risk being left looking up at the lights, wondering how they ended up lying on the ground. This fight has massive divisional ramifications and is almost guaranteed to be an explosive affair.
Josh Emmett vs Youssef Zalal
Josh Emmett and Youssef Zalal clash in a meeting of Top 10 featherweights hoping to move one step closer to title contention.
The 40-year-old Emmett has been a rankings mainstay for the past seven or eight years, constantly facing top competition while racking up wins over the likes of Shane Burgos, Dan Ige, and Bryce Mitchell. Last time out, the Team Alpha Male representative landed on the wrong side of the cards in a clash with British standout Lerone Murphy, winning the first on all three scorecards, but struggling to find much prolonged success the rest of the way.
Zalal has been one of the best comeback stories in recent years, arriving to UFC 320 having won four straight since returning to promotion in March 2024. “The Moroccan Devil” collected three consecutive submission wins to enter the rankings last year, then out-hustled Calvin Kattar in February to run his overall winning streak to seven and claim a spot in the Top 10.
Will Emmett flash his signature fight-changing power and return to the win column, or can Zalal keep rolling and make it 5-for-5 since returning to the Octagon?
Abus Magomedov vs Joe Pyfer
Middleweights open the main card as Abus Magomedov and Joe Pyfer throw down in a battle of unranked talents looking to earn a number next to their name.
Magomedov has found a groove of late, entering on a three-fight winning streak with decision victories over Warlley Alves and Michel Pereira on either side of a submission finish of Brunno Ferreira last October in Abu Dhabi. The Russian-born standout, who represents Germany and has been completing his training camps at American Top Team, has a wealth of experience and has gone back to playing to his strengths of late, resulting in his greatest run of success to date.
Three years after the “Be Joe Pyfer” moment following the opening week of action on Season 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Pyfer makes his second straight pay-per-view main card start, looking to add to his 5-1 record inside the Octagon. In his first appearance of the year, the Marquez MMA representative rocked Kelvin Gastelum a couple of times early in their meeting at UFC 316 before rolling to a unanimous decision win.
This is a solid step up in competition for both men and a chance to get a further read on where each one stands in terms of the hierarchy in the 185-pound weight class. The landscape of the division continues to shift every couple months, and a big effort from either man could put them on the cusp of breaking into the rankings, if not a spot in the Top 15, come next week.
Preliminary Card Pairings
Ateba Gautier vs Ozzy Diaz
The UFC 320 prelims wrap in the middleweight division, as punishing freshman Ateba Gautier takes on former LFA champ Ozzy Diaz.
Gautier has posted consecutive first-round stoppage wins to begin his UFC tenure, dropping Jose Daniel Medina and Robert Valentin to advance to 8-1 for his career. After debuting on short notice up a division, Diaz returned to middleweight earlier this year and collected his first win inside the Octagon, besting Djorden Santos on the scorecards at UFC 313.
Edmen Shahbazyan vs Andre Muniz
Tenured DWCS grads Edmen Shahbazyan and Andre Muniz square off in the first of three straight middleweight fixtures on Saturday’s fight card.
Still just 27 years old, Shahbazyan, who earned his contract on Season 2 of the annual talent search series, makes his third start of the year, eager to build on his wins over Dylan Budka and Andre Petroski. Once considered a dark horse contender in the division, Muniz has been finished in three of his last four outings, with his lone win a debated split decision victory over JunYong Park at the close of 2023.
Chris Gutierrez vs Farid Basharat
Chris Gutierrez and Farid Basharat face off in this battle of bantamweights positioned just outside the Top 15 in the talent-rich 135-pound weight class.
Gutierrez, who fights out of Factory X Muay Thai in Englewood, Colorado, has gone 7-2 over his last nine appearances, and looks to add to his modest two-fight run of success as he makes his second appearance of 2025 on Saturday. Competing for the first time since UFC 308 last October, Basharat carries a perfect 13-0 record, including four consecutive wins inside the Octagon, into what is — at least on paper — his toughest test to date.
Daniel Santos vs JooSang Yoo
Don’t blink once this one get started because Daniel Santos and JooSang Yoo are likely to get after it straight out of the gates.
A member of the Chute Boxe Diego Lima team, Santos has cobbled together a three-fight winning streak over the last four years, kicking things off with a stoppage victory over John Castaneda in October 2022 and capped with a unanimous decision win over Jeong Yeong Lee at UFC 315 in May. Yoo delivered one of the best knockouts and debut efforts of the year in June, flattening Jeka Saragih with a counter left hook just 28 seconds into their preliminary card clash at UFC 316.
Macy Chiasson vs Yana Santos
Macy Chiasson and Yana Santos meet in a battle of veteran bantamweights coming into UFC 320 from opposite directions.
Chiasson landed on the wrong side of the scorecards last time out, dropping a unanimous decision to Ketlen Vieira, though the Brazilian did have weight management issues, necessitating the bout be contested at featherweight. Santos arrives on a tidy two-fight winning streak, having followed up her solid showing against Chelsea Chandler last summer with a game effort opposite former champ Miesha Tate in May.
Patchy Mix vs Jakub Wiklacz
One fight after making his promotional debut, Patchy Mix is now the one welcoming fighters to the UFC, as he takes on Polish debutant Jakub Wiklacz.
The 32-year-old Mix joined the promotion amidst much fanfare, but faltered out of the gate, failing to really fire while dropping a decision to Mario Bautista at UFC 316 in June. The 29-year-old Wiklacz arrives on a seven-fight unbeaten streak, having won, retained, and successfully defended the KSW bantamweight title twice over his last four outings.
Punahele Soriano vs Nikolay Veretennikov
Punahele Soriano looks to make it three straight since moving to welterweight, while Nikolay Veretennikov aims to build on his first UFC victory in this intriguing preliminary card pairing.
A member of the DWCS Class of ’19, Soriano went 3-4 over seven middleweight appearances before moving to the 170-pound weight class, where he followed up his debut win over Miguel Baeza with a first-round knockout of Uros Medic in January. Veretennikov, who lost to unbeaten contender Michael Morales on Season 5, snagged his first win in three tries last time out, landing on the happy side of a split decision verdict in a bout against Francisco Prado at UFC 318.
Ramiz Brahimaj vs Austin Vanderford
It’s a battle of welterweight finishers as Ramiz Brahimaj and Austin Vanderford go head-to-head early in the evening.
The proud owner of a 100 percent finishing rate, Brahimaj has garnered back-to-back first-round finishes ahead of this one, most recently having put Billy Ray Goff to sleep with a rugged guillotine choke in May to earn his second consecutive Performance of the Night bonus. The 35-year-old Vanderford made his first UFC start in February, collecting a second-round stoppage win over Veretennikov to advance to 13-2 for his career.
Veronica Hardy vs Brogan Walker
Saturday’s action begins in the flyweight division, as Veronica Hardy takes on former TUF finalist Brogan Walker.
Fighting for the first time this year, Hardy looks to get things moving in the right direction again after having her three-fight winning streak snapped by Eduardo Moura last November in New York City. Walker returns to action for the first time in more than two years following a knee injury, looking to halt a two-fight skid and collect her first UFC victory.
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