Prochazka (31-5-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) congratulated Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) for his title-winning performance against Alex Pereira in Saturday’s UFC 313 main event, and initially issued “Poatan” a challenge. He then changed his tune and said it’s a better idea to go straight for the title.

Alex Pereira is no longer the UFC light heavyweight champion after a grinding affair against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313.

While former UFC champ Kamaru Usman found Alex Pereira to look “flat,” he had plenty of praise for Magomed Ankalaev’s work.

New UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev was dismissive of the striking of former champion Alex Pereira following Ankalaev's win in the UFC 313 main event.

An entertaining card at UFC 313 concluded with a hyper-competitive bout for the light heavyweight championship as Magomed Ankalaev defeated Alex Pereira by unanimous decision to steal the belt in Las Vegas.

New UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev is the type of guy to make a statement without saying anything, as was the case coming out of UFC 313. Ankalaev claimed the 205-pound title from Alex Pereira this past Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Magomed Ankalaev claims the UFC Light Heavyweight title at UFC 313, What's Next for the newly crowned champ from Dagestan?

Pereira, a former kickboxing champion, has been a phenom since joining the UFC in 2021. He won middleweight gold in 2022 before moving up to light-heavyweight and adding a second belt in 2023. Then, last year, he recorded three successful title defences with TKOs of Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr.

UFC 313 takes place on Saturday, March 8 with Alex Pereira defending his Light Heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev.