Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns from an unusually long break between pay-per-view (PPV) cards, with the last one coming on Aug. 15 in Chicago, to bring mixed martial arts (MMA) fans the perfunctory rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira. “Big Ank” defeated “Poatan” by way of unanimous decision last March and simultaneously sucked all […]
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns from an unusually long break between pay-per-view (PPV) cards, with the last one coming on Aug. 15 in Chicago, to bring mixed martial arts (MMA) fans the perfunctory rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira. “Big Ank” defeated “Poatan” by way of unanimous decision last March and simultaneously sucked all the excitement from the 205-pound division.
Can Pereira get it back?
We’ll find out in the UFC 320 main event on Sat. night (Oct. 4, 2025) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card lineup will also feature Merab Dvalishvili’s bantamweight title defense against Cory Sandhagen in what feels like an easy layup for “The Machine” (the bookies seem to agree). No disrespect to the “Sandman” but Dvalishvili has looked nothing short of unstoppable over the last few years.
Elsewhere on the card, light heavyweight bangers Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr. are early contenders for Car Crash of the Night, a three-round slugfest that will effectively eliminate one 205-pound contender from the division title chase. In addition power-punching veterans Josh Emmett and Joe Pyfer will also see action at UFC 320 against Youssef Zalal and Abus Magomedov, respectively.
Who wins and who loses? That’s what we’re here to figure out.
205 lbs.: UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Magomed “Big Ank” Ankalaev (20-1-1, 1 NC) vs. Alex “Poatan” Pereira (12-3)
Magomed Ankalaev defeated Alex Pereira at UFC 313 back in March and everyone hates him for it. Well, I’m sure those fans who dislike Pereira for whatever reason were glad to see him go but let’s face it, the light heavyweight division was kinda “meh” in the years following the departure of Jon Jones. Pereira made things fun again after jumping up from middleweight and rattling off five straight wins, with four of them ending by way of knockout while bagging three post-fight performance bonuses along the way.
The Brazilian also cranked out three straight title defenses in less than six months, virtually unheard of in today’s era of championship reigns. Perhaps that busy schedule contributed to his Ankalaev loss or maybe it was just a bad matchup. Remember, Pereira barely scraped by Jan Blachowicz by split decision at UFC 291 because the rough-and-tumble Pole fights with the same smothering style as Ankalaev (Blachowicz battled “Big Ank” to a draw at UFC 282). If that’s the case, don’t expect a different result this weekend in “Sin City.”
“Alex will go for the clinch, wrestle. Why? Because in the stand-up, nothing will work out for him,” Ankalaev’s coach, Sukhrab Magomedov, said on Countdown to UFC 320. “Alex Pereira, there’s nothing with which he can surprise us. Not his work in the stand-up, in wrestling he definitely cannot surprise. He cannot surprise with anything. His technique is standard, his strikes are standard. He’s an old kickboxer. He has no speed. Powerful punch? Alex has a punch, but not the kind that can really knock you out. And I tell everyone, if Magomed opens up, he’ll surprise everyone, and can even outplay, in pure stand-up, a better striker than Alex Pereira.”
Ankalaev just recently found his way into the mainstream spotlight but the 33 year-old Russian has been competing in UFC for more than seven years. He’s spent a majority of that time flying under the radar, simply because his fighting style has gotten progressively less exciting over the years. In his first seven fights with UFC, Ankalaev registered four knockouts with three post-fight performance bonuses. In his last seven, he’s scored just two finishes and one bonus, going to the judges’ scorecards five times.
That’s not the kind of run that will put butts in seats and if we’re being honest, Ankalaev has all the charm and personality of a robocall offering to extend my car’s warranty. At the same time, he keeps winning so “Big Ank” continues to get the last laugh. My concern for the champion is his overconfidence, perhaps feeling like he already faced Pereira and it was no big deal. If he’s not prepared for the most dangerous version of the ex-champ on Sat. night, he could find himself on Queer Street in the opening frame.
“Honestly, I was about 40 percent for that fight, on that night,” Pereira told CBS Sports. “And obviously it’s going to be much more this time. But if I’m only 50 percent, that 10 percent is going to make such a great difference. I’m going to leave no doubt for everybody. I think he don’t like me because I was able to prove that he’s not that good. I’m a striker, he’s a grappler. He’s supposed to be taking me down, but I was able to show to everybody that he’s not that great. Dealing with [losing] is not cool. But honestly, if I put together everything that was going on with me, and I’m not going to say it right now, it makes me happy that I was able to do the fight that I did with everything that was going on with me. Of course I’m not happy with the loss, but with the way that I fought, I’m actually even surprised that I was able to fight like that with everything that was going on.”
Despite what Ankalaev’s coach thinks, Pereira has a punch “that can really knock you out.“ That’s not my opinion, it’s fact. Just ask Sean Strickland and Jamahal Hill if ”Poatan” has knockout power. “Big Ank” is going to be in big danger the entire fight, though I do expect him to prevail simply by following the blueprint he laid in their first go-round. Pereira is a sensational striker but he remains painfully one-dimensional, and that’s not something you can fix with a six-month training camp. The former champ will have his moments, just not enough of them to reclaim the crown.
Prediction: Ankalaev def. Pereira by unanimous decision
135 lbs.: UFC Bantamweight champion Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (20-4) vs. Cory “Sandman” Sandhagen (18-5)
UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili is currently -380 on the moneyline against +300 for Cory Sandhagen and honestly, you could probably make that -3000 and +3800 and still not convince me to bet on “Sandman.” That’s no disrespect to Sandhagen, his accomplishments thus far in MMA, or his skill level, he’s just fighting a champion who is operating on another level right now. In addition, Sandhagen could not beat Umar Nurmagomedov across five rounds of action at UFC Abu Dhabi, a fight that saw the Coloradan get taken down five times, so how exactly does he plan to stop Dvalishvili, the most unstoppable wrestler of the modern era? I don’t think it’s outrageous to suggest that a finish is the only way to unplug “The Machine,” who fires off takedowns with the same speed and intensity in the final round as he does in the opening frame.
“I want to bring awe to the fans when they watch,” Sandhagen said on the “Countdown to UFC 320” video. “I can knock Merab out, I can submit Merab. I’m not going to get tired in five rounds, and my wrestling is 1000 times better than these other guys he’s fought. Right now, I feel unbeatable. At UFC 320, I win this fight. In this camp, particularly, I’ve really dedicated myself to learning all of the aspects deeply. Not just being a striker with fancy jiu-jitsu, but actually getting super good with wrestling. I can step into the cage with absolutely anyone, and I have all of the tools to beat anyone in the entire world.”
Sandhagen has been outwrestled six times in his UFC career and was blanked 5-0 on takedowns by Nurmagomedov, so I’m not sure how that translates into being “1000 times better” than Merab’s past competition.
It’s also worth mentioning that Dvalishvili recently passed Georges St-Pierre to take over the No. 1 spot for most takedowns in UFC history at 97, just three takedowns away from triple digits. He’s also the winner of 13 straight, placing him in a six-way tie for fourth on the all-time list. Remember, Merab isn’t just taking down lanky strikers like Sean O’Malley, he’s outclassing wrestling powerhouses like Henry Cejudo and the aforementioned Nurmagomedov. He’s also got a granite beard, or at least a chin strong enough to withstand whatever strikes Sandhagen manages to sneak through. Perhaps if “Sandman” had Sean O’Malley’s power to go with his fight I.Q. there might be a better argument for the upset, but I have a hard time picking Sandhagen on the outside chance he might land a flying knee akin to how Jorge Masvidal ended Ben Askren. Possible? Sure. Plausible? Not particularly.
Regardless, Dvalishvili is taking him seriously (and perhaps doing a bit of trolling).
“He has a flying knee, he knocked out Frankie Edgar so bad,” Dvalishvili told Shak MMA. “Spinning kick, Marlon Moraes. He submitted Mario Bautista and he cut bad Song Yadong. He’s dangerous. He broke T.J. Dillashaw’s knee, he blew up (Deiveson) Figueiredo’s knee, the guy hurts people and he’s dangerous, for sure. He’s changing stance, he has good cardio, he’s dangerous. [My coach], whatever I do he will support. I don’t think he will be mad because we’re really working on my hands. The fight starts standing and I think this fight, 90 percent will be striking. I have nine fights, which are not on my record, I have nine fights in Georgia and most of my fights I was striking before I even came to the US. I go to the UFC, I was a striker. I mean not striker, but I was going crazy.”
It would definitely be crazy to abandon his wrestling in favor of throwing hands against a smoother, more technical striker with a two-inch reach advantage. Maybe “The Machine” tries to utilize his boxing in round one just to say he did, or to get it out of his system; whatever, but eventually he’s going to fall back on the tools that helped him carve out one of the most impressive runs in bantamweight history. Once that happens, Sandhagen is doomed.
Prediction: Dvalishvili def. Sandhagen by unanimous decision
205 lbs.: Jiri “BJP” Prochazka (31-5-1) vs. Khalil “War Horse” Rountree Jr. (14-6, 1 NC)
What’s interesting about this fight is that Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr. are both coming off rebound victories over Jamahal Hill after knockout losses to Alex Pereira. Prochazka actually fought “Poatan” twice thanks to an early stoppage at UFC 295, but Pereira proved that referee Marc Goddard was doing Prochazka a favor based on how violently their second fight ended. Those are the only two losses “BJP” has suffered over the last 10 years and the remainder of his UFC fights — all five of them — have ended by way of knockout or submission, good enough for six post-fight bonuses including two “Fight of the Night” honors.
His ability to string together so many victories is even more impressive when you consider that Prochazka’s striking defense is a porous 43 percent with the 32 year-old Czech absorbing nearly six significant strikes per minute. Actually, the more I think about it the more uncomfortable it starts to get, especially considering some UFC veterans can barely tie their shoes.
We’ll save that for another column.
“I think [Rountree Jr. is] a dynamic, fast and a tough fighter — he knows how to go long rounds,” Prochazka told MMA Junkie. “This is something that I needed, to have more patience in the fight and to not want to end it as soon as possible. I think that’s my strongest weapon and the other side is a little bit bad because I want to end it as soon as possible. So I’m going all the time. Every attack has to go through. That’s what I worked on. To work lightly, to be precise, and with that to have deadly attacks. I’m always excited to show my performance to show that I made a step-up since the last preparation in January, so that’s it. I’m just excited to be here and finally to go back to the cage.”
Rountree Jr. seemed destined for greatness when he first debuted on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 23 back in summer 2016 but then flopped in the live finale and got submitted in his UFC debut. From there, “War Horse” struggled to stay consistent and nearly retired in 2019 until his head coach, John Wood, talked him into sticking around for one more run. It was clearly the right decision because Rountree Jr. went on to win six of his next seven and gave Pereira all he could handle before folding in the fourth round of their UFC 307 title fight.
That said, it’s no secret that Rountree Jr. is a one-trick pony with all nine of his finishes coming by way of knockout. It’s difficult to win by submission when you attempt zero takedowns in your UFC career but I guess if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Glover Teixeira was able to take Prochazka down five times in their UFC 275 bloodbath so the blueprint is there, I just don’t think “War Horse” is confident enough in his wrestling to follow it. That means their three-round showdown will play out on the feet — unless Prochazka flips the script and resorts to his wrestling.
“I’m ready for whatever,” Rountree Jr. told reporters during the UFC 320 media day (watch it here). “Honestly, everything right now is lighthearted, but I’m prepared for whatever. I think after that Alex (Pereira) fight, I proved to myself how far I can go and how far I’m willing to go if the fight goes there. But am I praying for this violent, bloody match? Absolutely not. If it goes there, it goes there. Can it go there? Absolutely, and I’m prepared. This is a big fight [against a] strong competitor. Great matchup, exciting matchup.”
Prochazka is -205 on the moneyline against +170 for Rountree Jr., presumably because “BJP” has more ways to win. With that in mind, I have serious concerns about the durability of the former champ’s chin after his Pereira fights and I’m not sure his performance against the fading Hill was enough to assuage those fears. This bout will all depend on how much Prochazka wants to wrestle. Rountree Jr. has been known to panic against opponents who hastily march forward and cut off the distance and that is certainly a possibility here, but the more likely scenario is “War Horse” slowly chops ”BJP” down with painful leg kicks and subsequently stuns him with a clean counter.
Prediction: Rountree Jr. def. Prochazka by technical knockout
145 lbs.: Josh “CCO” Emmett (19-5) vs. Youssef “The Moroccan Devil” Zalal (17-5-1)
It’s been a rough couple of years for longtime featherweight contender Josh Emmett, who was able to slug his way into the No. 3 spot in the 145-pound rankings back in July 2022 on the strength of a five-fight win streak that included two knockouts. Then came the championship-caliber competition and it all fell apart, leaving “CC0” at 1-3 across his last four. To his credit, he’s the only fighter over the last five years to take Ilia Topuria to the judges’ scorecards (a span of eight fights) and Emmett holds a special place in my heart for obliterating featherweight fathead Bryce Mitchell. Unfortunately for Emmett, his losing performances against the cream of the crop, which include Yair Rodriguez and Lerone Murphy, made it very clear the 40 year-old Californian is not championship material. On the plus side, Emmett is an exciting fighter with knockout power who routinely turns in “Fight of the Night” performances, like the Topuria bloodbath at UFC Jacksonville. Expect more of the same this weekend in “Sin City.”
“I feel like I’m a mixed martial artist,” Emmett told UFC.com. “I come from a wrestling background; my grappling is really good. I just like to entertain the fans, I like to entertain the UFC brass, and I know what they want to see, so that’s why I’m going in there and just trying to put people’s lights out. I’m obsessed with the game, and I’m even more hungry now. I feel like another fire has been lit underneath me. This camp has been something special, and it’s going to show on Saturday night. I just have to be me. I have to go in there, just be calm and collected, potentially fight for 15 minutes. It’s a huge card, I just have to go out there and make a statement and I’m right back in the mix.”
Youssef Zalal is currently in his second run with the promotion, having previously competed from Feb. 2020 to Aug. 22 for a record of 3-3-1. He would return to the regional circuit and rack up three straight wins with three first-round finishes to earn another stint inside the Octagon in early 2024. “The Moroccan Devil” made the most of his opportunity, winning four straight with three submission finishes. Looks great on paper, but it’s worth mentioning that two of those opponents are no longer fighting for UFC and Calvin Kattar has lost five straight and six of his last seven, so it’s not like he’s been tearing through the Top 10 of his division. Against Emmett, the 29 year-old Zalal will enjoy a significant height and reach advantage and is now fighting in his athletic prime, compared to “CC0” who admittedly looks great but has a lot of miles under the hood. That’s probably why the sportsbooks have Emmett as the +360 underdog against -470 for Zalal on the moneyline — which seems a little high when you consider the strength of schedule for each fighter.
“Finishing Josh Emmett will 100 percent get me either a title shot or get me into the conversation of a title shot, no questions asked,” Zalal told reporters during the UFC 320 media day. “To go finish that guy, the last time that guy got finished, the guy fought for the belt, for the interim belt. So for me to go out there and do that and obviously, like you said, the pound-for-pound No. 1 guy couldn’t do it, even though that was an easy matchup for Ilia Topuria, I think. But Josh Emmett, bro, he’s well-known. He’s more well-known than me. I still don’t think anybody knows my name yet. I really take this week to get this respect and that’s what I’m here for. I feel like he had his time. He made a lot of money, a lot of stuff like that. I’m just getting started. I really do believe this week is my week, and I can’t wait to go out there and really showcase all the skills that I know I’m capable of.”
Emmett is a competent wrestler but fairly one-dimensional striker who seems content to plod forward and uncork monster hooks in hopes of sending his opponent to dreamland. Zalal previously survived the bludgeoning power of two-division champion Ilia Topuria and will likely do the same against “CC0,” using his size and speed to outmaneuver Emmett on the feet. While it would be reckless to write Emmett off completely, he’s been going downhill over the last few years and I don’t expect any “turn back the clock” moments against a younger and more dynamic opponent. I do, however, expect Emmett to get pieced up for all three rounds en route to a sweep on the judges’ scorecards.
Prediction: Zalal def. Emmett by unanimous decision
185 lbs.: Joe “BodyBagz” Pyfer (14-3) vs. Abusupiyan “Abus” Magomedov (28-6-1)
Joe Pyfer blasted his way into UFC with a thunderous knockout win on Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in summer 2022, starting that annoying “Be Joe Pyfer” catchphrase that went away when the Pennsylvanian lost his first fight inside the Octagon to longtime veteran Jack Hermannson. Part of me feels like the promotion is still punishing “Bodybagz” for that setback, or maybe matchmakers were disappointed that he didn’t obliterate Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 316. Either way, a victory at UFC 320 will push Pyfer to 6-1 in the middleweight division and hopefully into a 2026 showdown against a Top 10 opponent. For this weekend’s return, Pyfer will give up three inches in reach but holds a distinct power advantage, so much so that he’s currently sitting at -250 on the moneyline. The biggest issue for “Bodybagz” is that he doesn’t seem to have a Plan B when he can’t secure the early knockout, which is how “The Joker” battled back for the “W” and why Gastelum was able to hang around for all three rounds.
“Gastelum’s in the past and I got the win and that’s all that matters,” Pyfer told reporters during the UFC 320 media day. “Before I fought Kelvin I was offered Abus and I said no. I didn’t like it. I didn’t think it made sense. I want to go up in the rankings. I know it would have done something for my resume to beat a guy like Abus back then, before I beat Kelvin, but Abus was behind me. Then he got the Michel Pereira fight. He won, he was ranked, I wasn’t. The second I won I told my manager, ‘I want to fight Abus.’ I didn’t like the narrative of — I’m not going to say who — but they kind of acted like I didn’t want the fight because I was scared. I don’t know what it was. So I was like, ‘Yeah give me Abus Magomedov, let’s run it.‘ He’s a very skilled guy, but he lost to Sean Strickland. Then he lost to Caio (Borralho), but the common theme that I’m seeing in this matchup is that he’s able to be hurt, and he slows down significantly after Round 2. Which is kind of funny because everybody sh*ts on my cardio, and I got the same guy who’s got sh*tty cardio like me.”
Abusupiyan Magomedov bounced around the International circuit before landing at PFL in 2018, where he nearly captured the $1 million tournament title. Unfortunately, Magomedov was knocked out by Louis Taylor in the finals and departed the promotion, picking up a pair of submission wins for EMC and KSW before finding a home at UFC. His first fight returned a technical knockout win over Dustin Stoltzfus, but then lost all of his momentum after suffering back-to-back losses to Sean Strickland (UFC Vegas 76) and Caio Borralho (UFC Sao Paulo). “Abus” did a nice job of getting back to his winning ways by rattling off three straight, having recently shut down former welterweight wild man Michel Pereira at UFC Kansas City. Magomedov turned 35 just a few weeks back and often looks it when his fights stretch into the second and third round, which could put him in mortal danger against a power puncher like Pyfer (assuming it lasts that long).
“They offered me last year to fight against [Pyfer] but I never choose my opponent,” Magomedov said during the UFC 320 media day. “I just get the name and the location where we are going to fight. I can’t understand, too, how we can say no or yes. We are here to fight with everyone (with the) same goal: to be champion one day. To this moment, I can’t understand how you can say no. Now I can say, ‘No, I don’t want to give him the opportunity,’ but like I said, I never choose someone against who I’m going to fight. If you’ve seen my fights, I’ve fought against everyone. I never choose. I just say, ‘Okay, let’s go.‘ Just send me location and the name.”
Magomedov is a large middleweight with a three-inch read advantage over Pyfer. He’s also been knocked out by fighters who don’t hit as hard as “Bodybagz” or fight with the same aggression. Hermansson and Gastelum have shown that Pyfer can be neutralized late in the fight; however, Magomedov deteriorates just as quickly (if not quicker) as the rounds drag on. The safe bet is Pyfer by knockout.
Prediction: Pyfer def. Magomedov by knockout
LIVE! Watch UFC 320 PPV On ESPN+ Here!
Don’t miss a single second of face punching action!
Where to Buy:
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 320 fight card on fight night, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 320 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 320: “Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 320 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
Category: General Sports
