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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and No. 1 contender Magomed Ankalaev finally came face-to-face at the conclusion of the UFC 313 press conference tonight (Thurs., March 6, 2025), just two days ahead of their five-round championship main event from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The incoming BANGER co-main event between former interim Lightweight champion Justin Gaethje and No. 11 ranked Rafael Fiziev were also in attendance and stared each other down.

Watch the staredowns below.

Pereira vs. Ankalaev

Gaethje vs. Fiziev

Turner vs. Bahamondes

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 313 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 313 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 313: “Pereira vs. Ankalaev” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 313 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev don’t speak each other’s languages but there were no words needed when the UFC 313 main event fighters faced off on Thursday following the pre-fight press conference.

The two hulking 205-pounders engaged in a tense staredown after answering questions on stage ahead of their showdown on Saturday.

While the tension between Pereira and Ankalaev had mostly been based around the upcoming competition, the fighters ratcheted up a little bit of bad blood in the days leading up to UFC 313.

For Ankalaev, he brought up Pereira’s recent travel schedule where he’s been jet-setting halfway around the world to corner Sean Strickland for a fight in Australia just weeks before his own title defense and also making note about the Brazilian’s enjoyment for his night life.

In response, Pereira mentioned Ankalaev fighting during Ramadan, which required him to break the traditional fast he observes as a Muslim so he could drink water while preparing for his weight cut on Friday.

All the talking ends on Saturday when Pereira looks for the fourth consecutive defense of his light heavyweight title while Ankalaev attempts to become UFC champion for the first time.

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Ilia Topuria appears to have secured a high-profile showdown for his next Octagon outing.

Last month, Topuria shocked the MMA world by vacating his UFC featherweight title, opting to test himself in the lightweight division in pursuit of becoming a two-division champion.

As a result, former champion Alexander Volkanovski is set to face Diego Lopes for the vacant title in the UFC 314 main event on April 12 at Miami’s Kaseya Center.

UFC CEO Dana White announced that “El Matador” opted to compete in a higher weight class, believing he had already dominated the featherweight division while also facing the relentless challenge of cutting down to 145 pounds.

Despite Topuria’s persistent desire to challenge reigning UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev, his first opponent in the division has yet to be revealed. However, the undefeated Spaniard publicly addressed his fans on Thursday for the first time since vacating his championship and teased that he has an announcement in the works, one he believes will leave his fans utterly amazed.

“When we announce it, you won’t believe it. Get ready,” Ilia Topuria wrote on X.

“El Matador” was last seen in action at UFC 308 last October, where he made history as the first fighter to ever knock out Max Holloway, successfully defending his featherweight title in the process. Prior to that, he knocked out Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February 2024 to capture the championship.

Ilia Topuria currently sports an unblemished 8-0 record in the UFC and an overall perfect 16-0 mark, including six knockout victories and eight submission triumphs.

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UFC

Song Yadong scored the biggest win of his career with a technical decision over former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC Seattle, and he also went home with the biggest payday of anybody competing on the card.

The Washington State Department of Licensing released the salaries from the UFC Seattle card to MMA Fighting via a public records request. Song and bantamweight veteran Rob Font earned the highest paydays of anyone competing at the event.

For his win in the main event, Song took home $ 320,000, $ 160,000 for his show money, and another $ 160,000 for winning. He earned the victory after Cejudo was unable to continue following an eye poke that left his vision impaired. Referee Jason Herzog ultimately deemed the foul was accidental and refrained from deducting any points.

Because the fight made it to the end of the third round in a five-round contest, the scorecards were tallied with Song winning a technical decision.

As for Cejudo, he went home with $ 150,000 but missed out on the extra $ 150,000 he would have earned with a victory.

The other biggest payday at UFC Seattle was for Font, who also took home $ 320,000 for his split decision win over Jean Matsumoto on the main card, earning $ 160,000 to show and another $ 160,000 to win.

Here are the full paydays for UFC Seattle

Song Yadong: $ 320,000 — $ 160,000 to show, $ 160,000 to win

Henry Cejudo: $ 150,000

Anthony Hernandez: $ 144,000 — $ 72,000 to show, $ 72,000 to win

Brendan Allen: $ 210,000

Rob Font: $ 320,000 — $ 160,000 to show, $ 160,000 to win

Jean Matsumoto: $ 26,000

Jean Silva: $ 90,000 — $ 45,000 to show, $ 45,000 to win

Melsik Baghdasaryan: $ 35,000

Alonzo Menifield: $ 240,000 — $ 120,000 to show, $ 120,000 to win

Julius Walker: $ 12,000

Ion Cutelaba: $ 190,000 — $ 95,000 to show, $ 95,000 to win

Ibo Aslan: $ 35,000

Melquizael Costa: $ 48,000 — $ 24,000 to show, $ 24,000 to win

Andre Fili: $ 110,000

Mansur Abdul-Malik: $ 24,000 — $ 12,000 to show, $ 12,000 to win

Nick Klein: $ 10,000

Ricky Simon: $ 160,000 — $ 80,000 to show, $ 80,000 to win

Javid Basharat: $ 30,000

Austin Vanderford: $ 30,000 — $ 15,000 to show, $ 15,000 to win

Nikolay Veretennikov: $ 12,000

Nursulton Ruziboev: $ 74,000 — $ 37,000 to show, $ 37,000 to win

Eric McConico: $ 12,000

Modestas Bukauskas: $ 96,000 — $ 48,000 to show, $ 48,000 to win

Raffael Cerqueira: $ 10,000

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Marcos Rogerio de Lima has been suspended after failing a drug test.

According to Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), the UFC’s drug-testing agency, de Lima tested positive for anastrozole, “a prohibited at all times substance” in the hormone and metabolic modulators class on the UFC’s prohibited substance list. The UFC heavyweight tested positive stemming from a Jan. 13 out-of-competition test.

This is the second time de Lima has tested positive for anastrozole, as he failed a test in 2017 where he served a reduced six-month suspension after USADA determined he used a contaminated supplement. This time, CSAD states that de Lima “submitted extensive medical documentation” in regards to a medical condition he suffered, and was prescribed something that had anastrozole listed on the label.

“De Lima neither checked on the prohibited status himself of the prescription before using it, nor contacted anyone within the UFC Anti-Doping Compliance Team for help to check the status of the prescription,” says the CSAD statement.

Additionally, CSAD says that after a thorough investigation, along with a detailed interview with de Lima — who was fully cooperative — along with contact with de Lima’s physician, CSAD confirmed the heavyweight fighter “was not seeking an athletic performance advantage and simply failed to check on the status of the medication and seek a therapeutic use exemption for his use of anastrozole.”

The anti-doping agency ultimately landed on a six-month suspension for de Lima, but since it was his second offense, the penalty was doubled to one year.

De Lima is eligible to compete again on Jan. 24, 2026

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Explanation
| BJPenn.com

Alex Pereira doesn’t speak English — and that’s just how coach Plinio Cruz likes it.

Part of Pereira’s appeal is the stone-faced “mystique” that keeps people guessing. It might be harder to package “Poatan” as a silent assassin if he’s cracking jokes and clowning around with combat sports reporters during media day.

Or making “wholesome” pre-fight videos.

“I knew he was able to achieve great things, but over time we knew he was able to conquer anything,” Cruz told Yahoo! Sports. “Like Glover has said, he’s the full package, and I think even the fact that people criticize the no English thing — I don’t want him to speak English! I think the way he keeps that stone face creates a whole mystique around him that people like, and now with his sarcasm behind the jokes … because he doesn’t speak English, I think people can just relate to him as a simple guy.”

And simple guys tend to put family first.

Pereira will defend his light heavyweight title against No. 1-ranked contender, Magomed Ankalaev, atop the UFC 313 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sat. night (March 8, 2025) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Like “Poatan,” Ankalaev doesn’t speak a lick of English.

How do you spell “dud” in Russian?

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 313 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 313 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 313: “Pereira vs. Ankalaev” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 313 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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Magomed Ankalaev understands anyone suggesting that the UFC is hoping Alex Pereira defeats him on Saturday, but he won’t apologize for spoiling anybody’s plans.

Anakalev challenges Pereira for the light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Recently, ex-UFC fighter Brendan Schaub said on his podcast that he believes the top of the UFC food chain is hoping Pereira retains his title for the fourth time, mostly to set up possible heavyweight matchups in the future against champs Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall — which Schaub feels won’t happen if Ankalaev wins this weekend.

“If you don’t think the UFC brass is praying to the MMA Gods that Alex wins this fight, good lord, buddy,” Schaub said. “If Ankalaev wins this fight, you do the rematch, but maybe he’s an Achilles’ heel. …

“They can’t create a star out of Ankalaev, you just can’t. Alex is your biggest star. This is his fourth title defense in under a year. … We’ve never seen anything like this. He’s also 37, so there’s not a lot of left juice in that towel to keep squeezing out.”

Ahead of his second championship opportunity, Ankalaev was asked about Schaub’s comments, and if the challenger feels the same way.

“Yeah, of course, I can understand that if he wins this fight that there’s a lot more opportunities that are opening up for him, and there’s a lot more doors that are going to be open for him as a person and as a fighter in general,” Ankalaev told MMA Fighting.

“But it just happened that the destiny put the two of us together and, unfortunately, he’s going to have a real tough time to get to that goal because he’s got me in front of him.”

Ankalaev competed for the title at UFC 282 in December 2022, fighting former champ Jan Blachowicz to a draw. UFC CEO Dana White publicly frowned upon the efforts in the bout, which has led to Ankalaev to have to compete three more times to earn another opportunity to fight for the belt.

Despite being unbeaten in 13 straight fights, Ankalaev watched Pereira defend his title three times in 2024, knocking out Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree during the impressive run. While he appreciates Pereira as a competitor and human being, Ankalaev feels “Poatan” has yet to fight anybody like him.

“It’s very different for him because, obviously he’s great guy, he’s a great fighter, he’s somebody who’s very strong, but he had specific fighters that he fought,” Ankalaev explained. “He fought strikers, he fought people that do not really have [much of a] ground game, and I’m a whole different animal.

“I’m going to be a whole different fighter standing in front of him on Saturday.”

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