Ankalaev wins undisputed light heavyweight crown

Magomed Ankalaev claimed the UFC light heavyweight title with a convincing unanimous decision victory over Alex Pereira on Saturday night, defeating the defending champion 49-46, 48-47, 48-47.

- 

Ankalaev took the highly partisan crowd out of the fight with a dominant grappling effort, mitigating a significant number of leg kicks from Pereira.

Ankalaev's win brings him full circle from his first title shot at UFC 282 in December 2022, a controversial split draw against Jan Blachowiczthat saw Ankalaev fall short of claiming the interim belt.

"It's a wonderful, great feeling," said Ankalaev (21-1-1), a native of Dagestan. "It’s a happy feeling. But I'm going to be working even harder because I'm the hunted man in the division now.

"Everybody's going to be hunting for my belt. In order for me to hold it for a long time, I'm going to have to work even harder and even more intensely."