Alex Pereira lost more than just a gold belt at UFC 313.
Alexander K. Lee is an editor for MMA Fighting who has been covering combat sports since 2014.
“Poatan” saw his aura of invincibility fade in Saturday’s main event as he was neutralized for a frustrating five rounds by the expert game plan of challenger Magomed Ankalaev. The final verdict had Ankalaev winning a close unanimous decision to not only become champion, but send Pereira spiraling down the Pound-for-Pound ladder.
Ankalaev—undefeated in 14 straight fights with his lone loss occurring in his promotional debut in 2018—enters the chart at No. 9, one spot ahead of Pereira at No. 10. That’s right, the former two-division champion who made a case to be No. 1 with a spectacular 2024 campaign, falls eight spots from No. 2. “Poatan” even had a No. 1 vote from one of our six panelists previously, but the aftermath of UFC 313 sees Islam Makhachev stand as our unanimous Pound-for-Pound king this cycle.
A result like this is always going to raise questions: Is Ankalaev’s placement too high? Too low? Is dropping Pereira to No. 10 to harsh of a punishment? Considering Pereira arguably won the fight, is it fair to drop him at all or is it justified given his disappointing performance?
The good news for Pereira is he has plenty of potential opportunities to climb back into the top 5. He can move up to heavyweight to target Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall. He can take an immediate rematch with Ankalaev. And if he defeats Ankalaev, he can still move up or possibly defend his title against middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in a superfight.
Maybe there is still some aura left.
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): Magomed Ankalaev def. No. 2 Alex Pereira
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 5 Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena (UFC 315, May 10), No. 12 Leon Edwards vs. Sean Brady (UFC London, March 22), No. 13 (tied) Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes (UFC 314, April 12)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Francis Ngannou (3), Patricio Pitbull (2), Jiri Prochazka (2), Sean Strickland (2), Usman Nurmagomedov (1)
Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 20 Francis Ngannou
Lastly, a refresher on some ground rules:
- The six-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Damon Martin and Jed Meshew.
- Updates to the rankings will be completed following every UFC pay-per-view. Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout.
- Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice (let’s put it this way: we’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did).
As a reminder, the notion of pound-for-pound supremacy is always going to inherently be subjective. When you’re debating whether someone like Sean Strickland should be ranked above someone like Charles Oliveira, there is no true right answer. In other words: It’s not serious business, folks.
Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.
