UFC 320 results, takeaways: Alex Pereira, Merab Dvalishvili continue to build historically strong resumes

For the second consecutive fight, the light heavyweight title switched hands as Alex Pereira avenged his March defeat to Magomed Ankalaev on Saturday via first-round knockout in the main event of UFC 320 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 

Pereira wasn’t the only big winner on this night, however, as bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili made the third defense of his title in a dominant win over Cory Sandhagen in the co-main event. 

Let’s take a closer look at the biggest takeaways from an exciting night of fights in Sin City. 

1. 100% of Alex Pereira is still the scariest fighter in UFC

Seven months after Pereira looked hesitant and sluggish in his unanimous decision title loss to Ankalaev at UFC 313, the Brazilian slugger only reclaimed his spot as the promotion’s biggest (and arguably most important) star by dispatching of his talented foe in an 80-second dismantling. Pereira, who admitted during fight week that injuries and illness left him fighting at just 40% in their first meeting, turned back any notion that he had lost a step at 38 or that he had found his Kryptonite in the form of his more well-rounded and technical opponent. For whatever “Poatan” was giving up to Ankalaev in the form of skill was greatly outweighed by his devastating power and his uncanny knack to come up big when the lights are the brightest. Pereira ran across the cage at the start of the bout and applied relentless pressure on Ankalaev until a lead right hand led directly to his Russian opponent’s demise. Pereira, who didn’t make his UFC debut until age 34 after a Hall-of-Fame career in GLORY kickboxing, only added to his already historic and unique resume. He headlined his sixth consecutive pay-per-view card and improved to 10-2 in the UFC throughout a four-year run that includes titles in two weight classes and now two championship reigns at 205 pounds. And of his 12 walks to the Octagon, eight of them have come in title bouts.

2. Pereira’s return to prominence comes at a great time for the promotion

During his post-fight interview on Saturday, Pereira revealed he had a callout speech prepared but ultimately chose not to do it so he could, instead, lead the crowd in a moment of silence for the recent death of Jon Jones’ brother, Arthur. But after the PPV concluded, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that Pereira and his team had approached him before the Ankalaev rematch and asked to move up to heavyweight, which aligns with comments made this week by Pereira about the trouble he has making 205 pounds. While Pereira appears to have one remaining interesting light heavyweight title defense available to him in the form of a streaking Carlos Ulberg (who knocked out Dominick Cruz last week to extend his win streak to nine), UFC could certainly benefit from the buzz that would come with Pereira testing his foot in the water at heavyweight. The promotion is set to kick off a new seven-year broadcasting deal with Paramount (the parent company of CBS Sports) in January and is already committed to booking a June event at the White House that White said would be the biggest card in company history. Whether Pereira tests himself against a contender, goes directly into a superfight with the former champion Jones or eventually challenges undisputed champion Tom Aspinall, each one would be a must-see affair in a division that’s badly lacking in elite depth. Pereira could also attempt to conquer the holy grail of becoming the first three-division champion in UFC history, which is a feat that, if he accomplished, could give “Poatan” his only shot of retiring as the greatest fighter of all-time. 

3. Merab Dvalishvili just might be the greatest bantamweight in history

After soundly losing the first round against the savvy Sandhagen, Dvalishvili made the domination he unleashed over the four subsequent rounds look effortless. The Georgian native with the greatest cardio in UFC history nearly had Sandhagen stopped on strikes in Round 2 before going on to successfully taking his opponent down 20 times over the full fight (a UFC record for a five-round bout), which also extended his record of career UFC takedowns to 117. Comparing greatness is never easy in a division with as much history as bantamweight. But whether you previously recognized Dominick Cruz or TJ Dillashaw as the best 135-pound fighter in UFC history, in a division that also included Aljamain Sterling, Henry Cejudo and Renan Barao, Dvalishvili appears to be in a class of his own. The victory over Sandhagen tied “The Machine” for the division record of three title defenses while extending his current win streak to 14 (two shy of Anderson Silva’s record). But the real test of Dvalishvili’s divisional greatness has come over his last eight fights, where he now holds consecutive wins over Marlon Moraes, Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, Cejudo, Sean O’Malley (twice), Umar Nurmagomedov and now Sandhagen. Short of fighting his teammate Sterling, Dvalishvili has successfully cleaned out his own era. 

4. Jiri Prochazka is a certified MMA treasure

After two rounds against Khalil Rountree Jr., the former light heavyweight champion Prochazka was visibly off-balanced and seemingly out of options after being picked apart with heavy strikes. So, the native of the Czech Republic did the one thing he does better than anyone in the UFC: he turned the fight into utter chaos in an electrifying Round 3 rally. Prochazka relied upon relentless pressure to exhaust Rountree and leave him vulnerable for the finish, which came via a rocket left hook that sent the former title challenger face down onto the canvas. Prochazka failed to reach the final bell for the 16th consecutive fight in a streak that incredibly dates back to 2016. No one else can claim to live at his exact intersection of excitement, unpredictability, durability and delightful quirkiness. Not only did the iron-chinned Prochazka improve to 6-0 inside the Octagon against everyone not named Pereira, he put himself in position to potentially earn another shot at the title (although the Pereira-Ankalaev result could hurt his immediate chances). 

5. Youssef Zalal has quietly catapulted himself into featherweight contention 

If you found yourself unimpressed by Zalal following his February decision win over Calvin Kattar, the native of Morocco seemed hellbent Saturday on changing your opinion of him in his performance against veteran Josh Emmett. In fact, Zalal went out of his way following his 98-second submission over Emmett to further apologize to the crowd for how he circled away throughout his last fight, faded late and then accused Kattar of greasing in the aftermath. By extending his overall win streak to eight while improving to 5-0 in his second stint within UFC, Zalal made one heck of a statement due to the ease and aggression he showed in taking Emmett down, instantly taking his back and later forcing a verbal tap via armbar in this matchup of top 10 fighters at 145 pounds. Given the recent turnover in the division at the highest level, which included exits from Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway, Zalal is helping the division quickly reload and should be in line for a big fight against a top 5 opponent.