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UFC 313

Mixed martial arts event in 2025

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UFC 313: Pereira vs. Ankalaev was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 8, 2025, at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Valley, United States.

01Background

A UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion (also former UFC Middleweight Champion and former Glory Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion) Alex Pereira and former title challenger Magomed Ankalaev headlined the event.

A five-round lightweight bout between former interim UFC Lightweight Champion (also former WSOF Lightweight Champion) Justin Gaethje and Dan Hooker was expected to serve as the co-headliner. However, Hooker had to withdraw from the bout due to a hand injury. He was replaced by Rafael Fiziev in what became a three-round bout. They previously met at UFC 286 in March 2023 when Gaethje won by majority decision.

A heavyweight bout between Jhonata Diniz and Vitor Petrino was expected to take place at the event. However, Petrino was forced to withdraw from the fight due to lateral epicondylitis in both elbows, so the bout was removed from the card.

A heavyweight bout between former interim UFC Heavyweight Championship challenger Curtis Blaydes and promotional newcomer Rizvan Kuniev was scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song. However, the bout was moved to this event for unknown reasons. In turn, their bout was cancelled a few hours before the event started as Blaydes suffered from an undisclosed illness.

A bantamweight bout between Chris Gutiérrez and undefeated prospect Jean Matsumoto was scheduled for this event. However, Matsumoto was withdrawn from this event in order to serve as a replacement fighter against Rob Font at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song two weeks prior. He was replaced by John Castañeda in a featherweight bout. In turn, the pairing was scrapped hours before taking place as Castañeda suffered an undisclosed illness.

Bruno Gustavo da Silva and Joshua Van were expected to meet in a flyweight bout on the preliminary card. However on February 17, Silva pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Road to UFC Season 2 flyweight winner Rei Tsuruya. This was the first ever UFC bout to feature two fighters born in the 2000s.

During the event's broadcast, former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler was announced as the next "modern wing" UFC Hall of Fame inductee during International Fight Week festivities in Las Vegas this June. In 2023, Lawler was inducted to the "fight wing" of the Hall of Fame for his title defense against Rory MacDonald at UFC 189.

02Results

Main card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Light Heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev def. Alex Pereira (c) Decision (unanimous) (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) 5 5:00
Lightweight Justin Gaethje def. Rafael Fiziev Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) 3 5:00
Lightweight Ignacio Bahamondes def. Jalin Turner Submission (triangle choke) 1 2:29
Women's Strawweight Amanda Lemos def. Iasmin Lucindo Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) 3 5:00
Lightweight Maurício Ruffy def. King Green KO (spinning wheel kick) 1 2:07
Preliminary card (ESPNews / ESPN+ / Disney+)
Flyweight Joshua Van def. Rei Tsuruya Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 3 5:00
Middleweight Brunno Ferreira def. Armen Petrosyan Submission (triangle armbar) 2 4:27
Welterweight Carlos Leal def. Alex Morono TKO (punches) 1 4:16
Featherweight Mairon Santos def. Francis Marshall Decision (split) (27-30, 29-28, 29-28) 3 5:00
Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / Disney+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Middleweight Ozzy Diaz def. Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) 3 5:00

03Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.

  • Fight of the Night: Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
  • Performance of the Night: Ignacio Bahamondes and Maurício Ruffy
Watch videos about UFC 313Explainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article UFC 313, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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