Alex Pereira defeats Jiří Procházka at UFC 303 to retain light heavyweight title

Alex Pereira kept his hands on the UFC light heavyweight championship with a second-round knockout victory over Jiří Procházka in the main event of UFC 303 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Pereira was on point from the start of the fight. Procházka often led the dance, but Pereira consistently outpaced him with his counterpunching. He highlighted the round with one of his signature left hooks that Procházka absolutely rocked.

It didn’t take long for Pereira to secure the finish. He’s usually known for his dynamite fists, but this time he went for his head kick to get the finish, putting Procházka on the mat before slamming him to the ground.

Pereira’s performance received rave reviews from across the media landscape:

Pereira has now defended his light heavyweight title twice, bringing some stability to a division that has been hectic since Jon Jones left in 2020. After giving up the title to pursue the heavyweight championship, the division has had five different champions.

Jan Blachowicz was the only one to successfully defend the title. Now Poatan really stands out in the division by defending the title twice.

It’s a historic moment in Pereira’s career that happened quickly. This wasn’t a fight that was months in the making, but rather a card-saving scrap that was put together just two weeks ago when Conor McGregor pulled out of his scheduled fight with Michael Chandler after suffering a toe injury.

Facing one of the best fighters in the light heavyweight division on short notice and beating him a second time is just another point on an elite resume. Pereira is the only fighter in UFC history to win both the middleweight and light heavyweight championships.

While there will be rumors of him capturing a third title in the heavyweight division, the Brazilian believes there is at least one more 205er he would like to see in the cage.

“Magomed Ankalaev is a man I would like to test myself against,” Pereira recently told reporters. “A lot of people are talking about that match and saying he’s going to submit me very quickly. I’d like to shut a lot of those people down and show a lot of my ground game as well. It won’t be an easy fight.” , but it will be a very interesting fight.”

Ankalaev is 18-1-1 with one no-contest. The 32-year-old lost his UFC debut in 2018 but has been undefeated in 12 fights since then.

He would provide Pereira with a new challenge. The former kickboxer hasn’t faced many fighters with his wrestling skills, but the champion has proven that he shouldn’t be underestimated against anyone in the division.