Alex Pereira may be one victory away from cleaning out the 205-pound weight class.

In addition, defeating No. 1-ranked contender Magomed Ankalaev atop the UFC 313 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sat. night (March 8, 2025) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, could leave “Poatan” ranked as “the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”

That’s according to UFC CEO Dana White.

“He’s one of the biggest stars in the sport right now, if not the biggest star in the sport,” White told ESPN’s First Take. “What makes this weekend so great is Ankalaev is a very serious threat to him. It’s probably the toughest fight he’s ever had. His team always talks about his takedown defense and that the fans don’t really know how good it is. We’re going to find out how good it is this weekend. This is a tough fight for Alex. If Alex comes out of this the way he’s come out of every other fight, he might be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”

Pereira is currently ranked No. 3 on the official pound-for-pound chart (see it here).

Above “Poatan” are reigning heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones (No. 2) and current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (No. 1). “Bones” is expected to defend his title against Tom Aspinall later this year while Makhachev could be in line for this championship super fight.

Until then, all we can do is pray.

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