UFC 320 saw the action return to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where Alex Pereira aimed to reclaim his light heavyweight title against the champion Magomed Ankalaev.
Also on the card, Merab Dvalishvili defended his bantamweight title against Cory Sandhagen, and a huge light heavyweight clash unfolded between Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr.
Abusupiyan Magomedov vs Joe Pyfer
The event kickstarted with a middleweight bout between Abusupiyan Magomedov and Joe Pyfer, with both men looking to build on winning streaks.
Magomedov had won his previous three fights, whilst Pyfer was on a two-fight winning streak, and knew he had the punching power to stop any opponent.
The fight began as many expected, with both fighters acting cautiously, throwing feints in order to find an early opening. This soon changed, however, with Pyfer securing a takedown, although Magomedov was soon able to gain the top mount position.
This was where the German Magomedov wanted the fight to be, and he soon snuffed Pyfer’s attempt to get up with a clean takedown from back control, just failing to secure a kimura on the ground.
Pyfer returned to his feet with a minute left of round one and started headhunting with wild right overhands, narrowly missing his target as the first round ended.
‘Bodybagz’ could sense that Magomedov was fatigued and continued to hunt him down at the beginning of round two, hurting his opponent with some nasty right hooks.
From here Pyfer landed some punches on the ground before searching for an arm triangle, which Magomedov escaped from, leading to his back being taken and Pyfer securing a surprise submission victory via a rear naked choke.
Josh Emmett vs Youssef Zalal
An intriguing encounter in the featherweight division came next with the dangerous veteran Josh Emmett taking on the exciting Youssef Zalal.
Zalal came into the fight off the back of a decision victory over Calvin Kattar, while Emmett lost a decision to top contender Lerone Murphy in April.
As the bell rang, Emmett immediately started searching for a big right hand, whilst Zalal remained calm and connected with a low leg kick.
Keeping a low hands stance meant Zalal was able to land an early double-leg takedown and, from there, tried to initiate a submission.
Zalal looked to secure a triangle choke, but Emmett resisted, leading to the Moroccan locking in an armbar and securing a verbal submission win.
This win surely places Zalal into the top 10 as he continues on his quest to conquer the featherweight division.
Jiri Prochazka vs Khalil Rountree Jr
Many UFC fans were expecting the light heavyweight encounter between Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr to be the fight of the night, as both fighters looked for yet another shot at the title.
Prochazka is a former light heavyweight champion, while Rountree came close previously when being defeated by Alex Pereira.
The three-and-a-half-inch reach advantage came to fruition in the early stages as Prochazka attempted to keep his distance and fire off jabs.
As the first round carried on, Prochazka’s unique fighting style was causing him some issues, as Rountree was counter-striking effectively when Prochazka jumped forward with leg kicks.
Prochazka was left frustrated when his best shot of round one was countered immediately by Rountree with a big left hook.
Rountree connected with a one-two combination to end round one as Prochazka missed with a flying knee.
Round two carried on in similar fashion, with Rountree dominating the exchanges and landing the cleaner shots.
Prochazka also slipped repeatedly as he tried to advance forward, and Rountree began to capitalise with more measured jabs and hooks.
Without capitalising on Prochazka’s slow start, Rountree had left the fight open, and his opponent came out firing in the final round.
He first startled Rountree with two right overhands and began frantically chasing his opponent down, looking for a finish.
Rountree was obviously fatigued, and Prochazka smelt blood, connecting with a variety of shots before connecting with a huge left hook that sent Rountree face first onto the canvas.
A statement by the Czechia-born fighter, who has called for another shot at UFC gold.
Merab Dvalishvili (C) vs Cory Sandhagen
The bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili defended his title against Cory Sandhagen in the co-main event, with many predicting a dominant victory for the champion.
As expected, Dvalishvili started on the front foot, with stamina never being an issue for ‘the machine’, pushing forward and searching for an early takedown.
Despite this, Sandhagen remained composed and showed impressive footwork to counterstrike and perhaps take the points in the first round.
Round two saw Dvalishvili pushing forward with more aggression, and he almost scored a TKO victory with a barrage of strikes that were started by a big right hook. Sandhagen was now under real pressure but somehow managed to survive, despite being taken down nine times across the first two rounds.
The final three rounds carried on in similar fashion, with the champion recording an impressive 20 takedowns across the fight to secure a unanimous decision victory.
This makes Dvalishvili the first UFC fighter to amass over 100 takedowns and leads him on his way to becoming the best fighter in bantamweight history.
Magomed Ankalaev (C) vs Alex Pereira
A hugely anticipated rematch headlined UFC 320 with Magomed Ankalaev making his first light heavyweight title defence against Alex Pereira, the man from whom he captured the belt.
Many fans were shocked by Pereira’s cautious approach in the first fight, anticipating him to unleash a powerful performance in the rematch.
This was clear to see in the first seconds, with Pereira pushing forwards with his lead right hand, pushing the champion back towards the fence.
It wasn’t long before ‘Poatan’ landed a huge straight right which sent his opponent to the canvas, and a flurry of punches saw referee, Herb Dean call an end to the contest after just one minute and 20 seconds of round one.
A stunning display saw Pereira reclaim his title, and he will be ready for the host of challengers that await him.
My name is Jack Latham.
I am 20 years old and am currently studying Sports Journalism at the University of Chester.
I became interested in combat sports, particularly MMA, in the lockdown period and have followed it closely ever since.
I have previously created my own website titled ‘Combat Corner,’ where I produce MMA content.