Daniel Cormier says Alex Pereira has maxed himself out at light heavyweight. This wasn't the case for Cormier when he was on top of the sport, the former UFC light ceavyweight champion going on to win the heavyweight title with a KO of Stipe Miocic in 2019.

Alex Pereira scored 21 knockout wins in kickboxing before signing to the UFC, the best of which saw ‘Poatan’ flying high as he went airborne.

Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) defends his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) in Saturday’s main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas ( ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+). Volkanovski thinks Pereira’s ground game will hold up, and that his diverse striking will pose problems for Ankalaev.

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.

Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) had to take the hardest of hard roads to get his chance at gold. Similar to fellow champs Belal Muhammad and Merab Dvalishvili, the long path consisting of a double digit unbeaten streak is what it took for Ankalaev to get his opportunity to challenge Pereira, and he got the job done by unanimous decision.

Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev will enter the octagon on Saturday for the main event at UFC 313. Here are the predictions for the bout.

Alex Pereira will seemingly pursue a rematch with Magomed Ankalaev after losing the light-heavyweight title at UFC 313, despite rumours of a move to heavyweight. Pereira suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Ankalaev in Saturday’s main event in Las Vegas,

Pereira vs. Ankalaev took place last Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event was headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev. The match pitting the champion against the division's top contender.