The UFC light heavyweight title won’t be the only thing on the line Oct. 4 when Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev square off in their rematch at UFC 320.
Also in play: the aura of invincibility.
Pereira, the 38-year-old Brazilian, is trying to reclaim the aura of invincibility after losing the light heavyweight belt to Ankalaev in a defeat by unanimous decision in March. Ankalaev, the 33-year-old Russian, is trying to solidify the aura of invincibility after the victory over Pereira extended his streak of matches without a loss to 14 in a row.
Why might the outcome of the rematch be different than the first fight? Pereira, the former kickboxer, has said an assortment of injuries left him at 40 percent and he indicated he’s closer to full strength.
But Ankalaev’s coach, Sukhrab Magomedov, expressed little concern. “He’s an old kickboxer,’’ Magomedov said of Pereira. “He has no speed.”
And, the coach added, “Alex, he has a punch, but not the kind that can really knock you out.” We’ll see about that. Of Pereira’s 12 victories, 10 have come by knockout.
USA TODAY Sports has everything you need to enjoy UFC 320, including updates, highlights and analysis:
UFC 320: Time, PPV, streaming for Ankalaev vs Pereira 2
The highly anticipated rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira will take place on Saturday, Oct. 4 and can be purchased on ESPN+ PPV.
Date: Saturday, Oct. 4
Location: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)
Early prelims start time: 6 p.m. ET
Early prelims card TV: FX; Early prelims stream: ESPN+, Disney+
Prelims card start time: 8 p.m. ET
Prelims card TV: ESPNEWS, FX; Prelims stream: ESPN+, Disney+
Main card start time: 10 p.m. ET
Main card stream: ESPN+ PPV
Catch UFC action with an ESPN+ subscription
UFC 320 predictions: Ankalaev vs Pereira 2 picks
Anatoly Pimentel writes: ‘I predict that Ankalaev will win again by unanimous decision against Pereira in this championship rematch because he will impose his grappling more urgently and earlier compared to the first fight. I never expected both of them to thrive in each other’s game in their first meeting, with Ankalev landing more significant strikes and Pereira successfully defending all the takedown attempts by the Russian.’
Doc Sports: Magomed Ankalaev
Guy Bruhn writes: ‘In his last fight, Magomed Ankalaev squared up with Alex Pereira and ended up getting the win by unanimous decision in round 5. Pereira ended up landing 97 of 159 total strikes attempted in that fight. Ankalaev walked away from this fight having landed 127 of 224 total strikes. In the category of significant strikes, Pereira ended up landing 76 of 137, which gave him a rate of 55%. He finished the fight landing 11 of 57 significant strikes to the head. On the other side of the cage, Ankalaev ended up landing 52% of the significant strikes he threw by landing 94 of 180. In terms of accuracy for the significant strikes, he was 36 of 112 to the head. 90% of the significant strikes connected on by Pereira and 79% of them connected on by Ankalaev were done at a distance.’
UFC 320 odds: Ankalaev vs Pereira 2 fight card
Fight card according to ESPN: Odds via BetMGM.
(Odds as of Saturday at 4:45 p.m. ET)
Main Card:
Magomed Ankalaev (-250) vs. Alex Pereira (+200): Light Heavyweight title
Merab Dvalishvili (-450) vs. Cory Sandhagen (+340): Bantamweight title
Jiří Procházka (-200) vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. (+165): Light heavyweight
Josh Emmett (+360) vs. Youssef Zalal (-500): Featherweight
Abus Magomedov (+200) vs. Joe Pyfer (-250): Middleweight
Prelims:
Ateba Gautier (-2000) vs. Treston Vines (+950): Middleweight
Edmen Shahbazyan (-325) vs. Andre Muniz (+260): Middleweight
Chris Gutierrez (+375) vs. Farid Basharat (-500): Bantamweight
Daniel Zantos (-150) vs. JooSang Yoo (+125): Featherweight
Early Prelims:
Macy Chiasson (-190) vs. Yana Santos (+150): Women’s bantamweight
Patchy Mix (-325) vs. Jakub Wiklacz (+260): Bantamweight
Punahele Soriano (-350) vs. Nikolay Veretennikov (+275): Welterweight
Ramiz Brahimaj (+240) vs. Austin Vanderford (-300): Welterweight
Veronica Hardy (-800) vs. Brogan Walker (+550): Women’s Flyweight