Ankalaev fought Pereira rematch with broken rib
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Magomed Ankalaev fought Alex Pereira at UFC 320 with a broken rib despite his team urging him to withdraw in the weeks before the bout, and lost via 80-second knockout in his first title defense.
- Ankalaev had captured the light heavyweight title from Pereira via unanimous decision before the rematch loss, and told CBS Sports through an interpreter: "You have to pay for your mistakes."
- Ankalaev returns nine months later to face Bogdan Guskov in Saturday's main event at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi, framing the fight as a reset rather than the end of his career.
- Alex Pereira vacated the light heavyweight title after avenging the loss to Ankalaev and attempted to become the first UFC fighter to win titles in three divisions, but suffered a second-round knockout loss to Ciryl Gane on the White House South Lawn in June.
- Pereira told CBS Sports he's eyeing a November return at heavyweight, reaffirming his commitment to the division despite the Gane loss.
- Ankalaev said he'd welcome a rubber match with "Poatan" if Pereira returns to light heavyweight: "If it were up to me, I'd love for him to come back to his division so we can have our rubber match."
Why it matters: Ankalaev's broken-rib disclosure reframes the UFC 320 narrative — the consensus was that Pereira simply outclassed him, but Ankalaev was fighting compromised. With Pereira now committed to heavyweight and vacating the 205-pound belt, Ankalaev's path back to a title shot runs through Guskov and likely a lengthy rebuild rather than an immediate rematch.
