UFC 313 Results: Winners And Losers

The UFC was at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for tonight’s UFC 313 fight card and the UFC has a new light heavyweight champion, as Alex Pereira’s fearsome reign atop the division ended not with a roar but a whimper. The man who had gone 5-0 in the 205-pound division with four knockouts in four title fights dropped a lackluster decision to Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 313. And what Ankalaev needed to do to win seemed to be as simple as moving forward and refusing to give Pererira the time, space, and respect some of his former opponents afforded him. The fight wasn’t pretty or exciting, but it was a win for Ankalaev, and that’s all that really matters. Below we look at the UFC 313 results, reactions, video highlights, winners and losers and more.

In the co-main event of UFC 313, Justin Gaethje defeated Rafael Fiziev in a rematch. Both men had their moments in the lightweight matchup, but Gaethje’s striking, especially his ability to land uppercuts, carried the fight.

The main card for UFC 313 streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view, following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

Two UFC 313 matchups fell out on fight night. Both fights were canceled due to illness. The canceled fights were Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev and John Castaneda vs Chris Gutierrez. The UFC reshuffled the UFC 313 fight card, and it will proceed with 10 fights.

UFC 313 Results: Winners

Magomed Ankalaev: Magomed Ankalaev and his team put together, implemented, and stuck with a strong game plan for Saturday’s fight against Alex Pereira. The strategy was to pressure Pereira, land effective strikes, keep the threat of a takedown in Pereira’s head, and exploit his lack of defensive movement. Ankalaev did just that, seeming to freeze Pereira over the final 20 minutes of the fight and avoid taking any serious damage.

Fans might not have liked the performance, and the UFC is most likely not going to be overjoyed to see the light heavyweight title move from a knockout artist like Pereira to a fighter like Ankalaev, who is known more for decisions than stoppages, but that’s where they are following UFC 313.

Ankalaev fought smartly and effectively, managing risk while doing enough damage to carry all three scorecards. Fans don’t have to like it, but there’s no controversy in the decision.

Justin Gaethje Vs. Rafael Fiziev: Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev had an exciting three-round scrap in the co-main event slot of UFC 313. Fiziev used body strikes throughout the fight, landing punches, knees, and kicks to Gaethje’s torso, while Gaethje did his best when targeting Fiziev’s head. Gaethje was especially effective with his uppercuts, one of which dropped Fiziev in the second round.

Fiziev accepted this fight on short notice after Gaethje’s original opponent Dan Hooker dropped out of UFC 313 with a hand injury. Not only did Fiziev accept the fight on short notice, he had not fought since September 2023.

As for Gaethje, there were some questions about how he would perform following a nasty knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300. Gaethje answered those questions with a strong performance on Saturday night.

Ignacio Bahamondes: Ignacio Bahamondes surprised many, including his opponent Jalin Turner, with a submission win at UFC 313. The 27-year-old, who was unranked in the UFC’s lightweight division, ended up on his back after a failed takedown early in the first round. In hindsight, going to the mat might have been what Bahamondes wanted as he found an opening for a triangle choke after the two exchanged strikes on the mat.

With the win, Bahamondes is likely to break into the lightweight rankings.

Amanda Lemos: Amanda Lemos did not have to do much to defeat Iasmin Lucindo, but her ability to shut down the offense of her opponent was enough to get her the win. Lemos expected Lucindo would try to beat her on the mat; with that, Lemos’ focus was to not give Lucindo the opportunity to do that. She accomplished that mission at UFC 313.

The fight wasn’t an exciting one, but Lemos got the win, bouncing back from a submission loss to Virna Jandiroba.

Mauricio Ruffy: Mauricio Ruffy was our fighter to watch for the UFC 313 fight card. The Fighting Nerds product lived up to that billing with a highlight-reel knockout of Bobby “King” Green to open the UFC 313 pay-per-view.

Ruffy was 2-0 in the UFC heading into Saturday and coming off a decision win over an overmatched short-notice opponent in James Llontop in his last outing. That three-round contest took some of the shine off Ruffy, but he put the spotlight back on himself after dropping the veteran Bobby Green to his face with a perfectly timed wheel kick.

Joshua Van: Joshua Van moved to 6-1 in his UFC career with a win over Rei Tsuruya. The 23-year-old had some issues with the wrestling of Rei Tsuruya on Saturday, but his striking and ability to defend takedowns and work back to his feet when he was taken down earned him the win. Van’s cardio also needs to be noted, as he did not fade under the relentless pressure of his opponent.

Van is a young fighter, but he is a flyweight prospect to watch.

Brunno Ferreira: Brunno Ferreira showed he is a mixed martial artist at UFC 313. Ferreira did not have the technical striking skills of his opponent on Saturday, Armen Petrosyan, so he decided to give his grappling abilities a go in the second round. That was a wise choice.

Ferreira blasted a takedown and worked to Petrosyan’s back. From there, he searched for a choke, but Petrosyan seemed to be slipping out of the hold, but the Brazilain slickly transitioned to a fight-ending armbar.

With the submission win, Ferreira bounced back from an October 2024 submission loss to Abus Magomedov.

Carlos Leal: Carlos Leal was the biggest betting favorite on the UFC 313 fight card, and he looked fantastic in disposing of Alex Morono before the end of the first round of their welterweight battle.

Leal was flat-footed and looked to land everything with power from a distance. However, he was not interested in only fighting at range; he was also incredibly effective in close, tying up his opponent and blasting him with knees and elbows in the clinch.

By the middle of the first round, Morono seemed frustrated. By then, he was winging wide hooks, which only allowed Leal to connect with ease.

Leal, who lost his UFC debut, looked excellent at UFC 313.

Djorden Santos vs. Ozzy Diaz: Djorden Santos and Ozzy Diaz put on a spirited bout to open the UFC 313 fight card. The two middleweights fought with different styles. Santos was all output, forward pressure and power, while Diaz was more technical and fought behind an active jab.

Santos seemed to want to force Diaz into an all-out war, but Diaz didn’t bite. Santos was good when he moved forward, but he struggled to fight off his back foot, which Diaz took advantage of in the second and third rounds.

The striking might not have been top-notch boxing in this one, but the crowd and the commentary team loved the action.

In the end, Diaz won the bout via split decision.

UFC 313 Results: Losers

Alex Pereira: Alex Pereira lost his UFC light heavyweight title on Saturday night, falling by unanimous decision to Magomed Ankalaev. Pereira did not seem to have a game plan to answer the pressure and forward motion of his opponent. With Ankalaev leading the dance in the final 20 minutes, Pereira seemed unable or unwilling to switch the momentum of the fight. It was a puzzling performance from the man who entered UFC 313 with an aura of invincibility about him.

Pereira’s inability to fight off his back foot and inability to keep his head off the center line while defending strikes were especially noticeable on Saturday night.

Jalin Turner: We may have seen the last of Jalin Turner. The 29-year-old took off his gloves in the cage after his first-round submission loss to Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 313. The loss dropped Turner’s record to 1-4 since March 2023, a run that followed a five-fight winning streak.

Iasmin Lucindo: Iasmin Lucindo attempted seven significant strikes in the first two rounds of her battle against Amanda Lemos. She did not land any of those attempts. She also did not attempt a takedown or a submission. With that, it’s easy to understand that her corner, heading into the third round, asked her, “Where’s Iasmin?”

Lucindo tried to generate offense in the third stanza, but she did not do much other than pick up some ground control time. Lucindo was a slight favorte in this fight because of her ground game, but Lemos shut that down. The loss ended Lucindo’s four-fight winning streak.

Bobby “King” Green: Bobby “King” Green is known for keeping his hands low. Green is usually able to get his guard up before he catches power strikes. His defense failed him on Saturday when Mauricio Ruffy caught him with a perfect wheel kick that dropped Green to the mat at the 2:07 mark of Round 1.

Rei Tsuruya: Rei Tsuruya is a very good wrestler with incredible cardio. The problem for the 22-year-old fighter, who was 10-0 heading into UFC 313, is that he is competing in MMA. At this point in his career, Tsuruya is a one-trick fighter. He needs to develop a striking game to set up his wrestling. This fight may be a sign that he needs to become more well-rounded.

At his young age, Tsuruya has a lot of time to develop. He has a fantastic base; he just needs to add some wrinkles to his game.

Armen Petrosyan: Armen Petrosyan is on a three-fight losing skid following his submission loss to Brunno Ferreira at UFC 313. Petrosyan is a talented technical striker, but two of his three straight losses have come via submission.

Alex Morono: Alex Morono is on the first two-fight losing skid of his MMA career following a one-sided TKO loss to Carlos Leal at UFC 313. Morono had nothing to offer the powerful and effective Leal on the feet, and by the middle of the round, he seemed resigned to losing the bout, just hoping to catch his opponent with a winging hook. When that failed Morono’s only hope seemed to be a mercy stoppage from the referee, which came at the 4:16 mark of the first round.

UFC 313 Full Fight Card Results

UFC 313 Results: Pay-Per-View Card

Magomed Ankalaev defeats Alex Pereira via unanmious decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
Justin Gaethje defeats Rafael Fiziev via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Ignacio Bahamondes defeats Jalin Turner via submission at 2:29 of Round 1 (Triangle choke from bottom guard)
Amanda Lemos defeats Iasmin Lucindo via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Maurício Ruffy defeats King Green via knockout at 2:07 of Round 1 (Wheel kick to head at distance)

UFC 313 Results: Preliminary Card

Joshua Van defeats Rei Tsuruya via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Brunno Ferreira defeats Armen Petrosyan via submission at 4:27 of Round 2 (Armbar from bottom guard)
Carlos Leal defeats Alex Morono via TKO at 4:16 of Round 1 (Punches to head in clinch)
Mairon Santos defeats Francis Marshall via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

UFC 313 Results: Early Preliminary Card

Ozzy Diaz defeats Djorden Santos via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)

UFC 313 Results: Video Highlights

UFC 313 Results: Fight Night Bonuses

UFC 313 Results: Fight of the Night: Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev 2

UFC 313 Results: Performance of the Night: Mauricio Ruffy

UFC 313 Results: Performance of the Night: Ignacio Bahamondes

UFC 313 Results: Official Scorecards

UFC 313 Main Event: Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev

Alex Pereira (12-2) began 2023 by losing his UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya by knockout. In July, Pereira followed that setback with a win over former UFC light heavyweight title holder, Jan Błachowicz, in his UFC debut at 205 pounds. He finished the year by knocking out ex-UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jiří Procházka at UFC 295 to claim the vacant UFC 205-pound title.

Pereira made his first defense of his crown in April when he knocked out (another) ex-UFC light heavyweight champ, Jamahal Hill, in the first round of their UFC 300 matchup. Pereira showed his power is on another level, when he finished Hill 3:14 into the first round of the main event of UFC 300.

In June, on very short notice, the UFC called on Pereira and Procházka to headline UFC 303 when the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight fell off that card.

After the bout, which Pereira won via a knockout 13 seconds into the second stanza, I wrote:

“Pereira showed that his first win over Prochazka wasn’t a fluke. The UFC light heavyweight champ is a fearsome fighter who packs a lot of power in his strikes, but he’s also an extremely focused competitor who doesn’t let anything bother him.

“Pereira effectively scored two knockouts on Saturday night, blasting former champion Jiri Prochazka to the mat at the bell to end the first round and then sending him right back down in the opening moments of the second round with a head kick.”

In August the UFC booked Pereira against Khalil Rountree Jr for the main event of UFC 307, which took place on October 5. Pereira outclassed Rountree, putting a beating on his opponent before scoring a fourth-round TKO win.

Pereira picked up his third UFC title defense of 2024 on Saturday night. Pereira let his opponent, Khalil Rountree Jr, tire himself out in the early going of the fight while simultaneously slowing him with powerful kicks to Rountree’s lead leg. Pereira picked up the pace in the third round, fighting very effectively behind his jab. That jab opened up several nasty cuts around Rountree’s eye and on the bridge of his nose. Those blows hurt Rountree, and once Pereira had Rountree fading, he picked him apart with precision and power, forcing the referee, Marc Goddard, to stop the fight in the fourth round. Goddard could have stopped this much sooner.

Pereira was in the running for fighter of the year for 2024.

Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1-1) has been a member of the UFC roster since 2018. Ankalaev lost his UFC debut when Paul Craig submitted him at 4:59 of the third round. Since then, Ankalaev has gone 13 fights without a loss.

Ankalaev secured a title fight in December 2022 when he faced former UFC champion Jan Blachowicz for the vacant light heavyweight crown. However, that contest ended in a split draw, and with neither man impressing the matchmakers in that matchup, the UFC opted not to give either man a second go at earning the belt.

Since then, Ankalaev is 2-0-0-1 with a no contest (illegal knee) against Johnny Walker, and most recently a decision win over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308.

When the UFC opted to give UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira a fight against Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 and bypass Ankalaev, he felt snubbed by the promotion, but also motivated.

“Now everybody knows I’m not fighting for the title and will fight Rakic in Abu Dhabi. Whoever (UFC matchmaker) Mick Maynard gives me I will smash their face so that they can no longer deny me if I do my job impressively. I feel sorry for whoever is gonna fight me from now going forward,” Ankalaev said at the time.

Not long after that, Ankalaev said that Pereira was running from him.

On Saturday, Ankalaev gets the chance to face down Pereira.

Check out our betting picks for UFC 313

UFC 313 Co-Main Event: Justin Gaethje Vs. Rafael Fiziev 2

When Justin Gaethje (25-5) joined the UFC in 2017 he had a perfect record of 17-0. Leading up to that signing, Gaethje had won the World Series of Fighting lightweight title and then defended the belt five times. All six of his title fights under the WSOF banner ended by knockout.

Gaethje’s first fight with the UFC came in July 2017, when he met Michael Johnson in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 25 finale card. Expectations were high for that matchup, and Gaethje delivered, picking up a second-round TKO win over Johnson and earning “Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night” bonuses for a contest that won several “Fight of the Year” polls for 2017.

Every UFC fight Gaethje has been involved in since has been viewed with anticipation as he has one of the most fan-friendly styles in the history of not just the UFC but all of MMA. Gaethje might not win every time he steps into the octagon, but he is a fighter always looking to earn a stoppage win and entertain the fans. His 12 fight-night bonus awards in 12 UFC outings can attest to that.

Gaethje won the interim UFC lightweight crown in May 2020 with a knockout win over Tony Ferguson. However, he failed to unify the belts, losing to then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov by submission in October of that year. Gaethje also fell short in his second try at winning the UFC 155-pound belt, dropping a submission to Charles Oliveira for the vacant title in May 2022.

Gaethje bounced back from that loss with his majority decision victory over Fiziev at UFC 286. A fight that earned both men “Fight of the Night” honors. Geathje’s most recent win was his “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning outing over Poirier.

Gaethje has 20 career knockout wins, one submission victory, and he’s been on the right side of four decisions. The BMF champ’s career losses have come by knockout (three) and submission (two).

He is coming off a fight-of-the-year nominee for 2024, his UFC 300 KO loss to Max Holloway. Gaethje is the No. 3 fighter in the official UFC lightweight rankings.

Rafael Fiziev (12-3) joined the UFC in 2019. At the time he had a 6-0 record with six stoppages (five knockouts and one submission), with all but one of those fights ending in the first round. Fiziev’s UFC debut ended 86 seconds into the first round when he caught a spinning back kick from Magomed Mustafaev, who had not fought for more than two years.

Fiziev bounced back from his first career loss by going on a six-fight unbeaten streak. He climbed the rankings during that run, which began with an October 2019 decision win over Alex White and ended with a July 2022 knockout win over former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Fiziev picked up five fight-night bonuses during that stretch.

With his impressive run, Fiziev earned the No. 6 spot in the official UFC rankings. His reward was a matchup against Gaethje in the co-main event of UFC 286. Fiziev entered that bout as a -230 betting favorite over the +195 Gaethje.

The two put on a striking battle over three rounds in front of an appreciative crowd in London that evening. In the end, Gaethje earned the majority decision win. In his next outing, Fiziev faced Mateusz Gamrot in a UFC Fight Night main event. That contest ended abruptly in the second round when Gamrot scored a TKO win after Fiziev planted his leg to throw a kick and dropped to the canvas.

Fiziev has not fought since he tore his ACL in that contest, even though he was cleared for action in September 2024. Despite his inactivity, Fiziev is the No. 11 fighter in the official UFC lightweight rankings.

UFC 313 results, reactions, video highlights, scorecards, winners and losers and more will be updated live throughout tonight’s UFC 313 card.