These Are the Only 2 Men to Hand Alex Pereira a Loss in the UFC

Adesanya and Pereira first met in the ring during their kickboxing days. Pereira was able to defeat the Kiwi star in both of their kickboxing encounters. He continued his winning streak against ‘Izzy’ in their first MMA encounter at UFC 281 in November 2022, defeating the latter via a fifth-round KO to capture the middleweight title. 

In their rematch at UFC 287, both fighters traded fire early. Pereira hacked away at Adesanya’s legs, while the challenger fought with newfound aggression. Then, in round two, it happened. Pereira pressed forward, sensing blood. But Adesanya was baiting him by playing possum. 

Suddenly, a right-hand detonated. Pereira froze. Another right followed, then a crushing left hook. The champion hit the canvas, out cold.  But that loss didn’t break him. Instead, it forged him. Alex Pereira moved up to light heavyweight months later, chasing bigger challenges, and soon, another test of endurance would await him in the form of Russia’s quiet storm, Magomed Ankalaev.

Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313

If Israel Adesanya defeated Pereira with precision, Ankalaev did it with pressure. The Russian entered UFC 313 as the underdog but left Las Vegas as the new light heavyweight champion, silencing a roaring crowd.

From the opening bell, Ankalaev dictated the pace. He absorbed Pereira’s early calf kicks, with 11 out of 14 landed,  but never backed down. Instead, he closed the distance, clinched, and crowded ‘Poatan’ against the cage, refusing to give him the space to swing his lethal left hand.

Pereira’s timing looked off. His rhythm, usually smooth and destructive, was broken. Ankalaev beat him to the punch in the second round, stunning him with a left and rocking him again with a right in the final seconds. As the rounds wore on, the momentum shifted entirely. By the fifth, Pereira seemed unsure, his body language telling a story his heart wouldn’t admit.

Two judges scored the fight 48-47, and one had it 49-46, heralding a unanimous decision for Ankalaev. “I don’t think anything surprised me,” the Russian said afterward. “I think I could have done a better job in the fight, but something just wasn’t working out. But anyway, I’m really happy that I won.”

Pereira, ever the warrior, didn’t mince words in defeat as he confessed, “We know that he puts people against the fence, and he plays that game, but giving him the win with a game plan like that, it kind of incentivizes people to do that against people. People might say it’s a boring style, but when a guy gets a win doing that, it kind of makes people want to do that, too.”

It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective. Ankalaev’s grinding pace suffocated Pereira’s offense. He forced ‘Poatan’ to fight off his back foot, stripped him of his rhythm, and left no room for the signature counter that had ended so many before. By the final horn, the stone hands had been silenced again.

Now, fate brings him back to where it all began with Magomed Ankalaev standing across the cage once more. On October 4 at UFC 320, Alex Pereira gets his chance at redemption!