The Trilogy is a column that writes about three recent goings-on in the UFC world, designed to be a fun and informational view into the fights and outside-the-octagon news. Without further ado, welcome to The Trilogy!
“IT’S TIME,” for this week’s edition of The Trilogy. UFC 313 is officially behind us, and there is a lot to unpack from the main card. Most eyes were on the main event and co-main event of the fight between Alex “Poatan” Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev for the Light Heavyweight Championship and the return of Justin Gaethje in a rematch against Rafael Fiziev. There were two fights early in the main card, however, that provided some of the night’s best moments.
Pereira vs. Ankalaev
A fear of many, but the reality for all. The reign of the Poatan is over, and at first glance, it looks like this could be the first flake in what could be a massive snowball rolling downhill for Pereira.
The fight was indeed close, with two judges ruling it 48-47 in Ankalaev’s favor (this is how I scored it as well), and the third as 49-46 toward the Dagestani as well. But results aside, the fight didn’t even play out how anybody expected. Everybody — including myself — figured that Ankalaev would shoot for a takedown immediately and spend as little time in standup as possible.
Instead, Ankalaev stood upright for nearly the entire first round, with only one takedown attempt through the first five minutes. The late attempt—presumably a bid to secure Round 1 at the bell—was turned away by Pereira, and the two battled in the clinch.
Coming into the fight, I would have been absolutely shocked if somebody told me that the Poatan would deny a single Ankalaev takedown. So when the Brazilian did so, I, as well as all the judges, ruled round one in his favor. Somehow, Ankalaev would shoot 11 more takedowns during the fight, and Pereira shockingly turned away each attempt to everyone’s surprise.
Somehow, Pereira proved the haters wrong that he can, in fact, stay upright… but STILL lost.
Pereira was on his back foot nearly the entire bout and looked like a totally different fighter than we normally see. The few times he stepped forward were in the first and fifth rounds — the only rounds that he won — when he caught Ankalaev with a few punches. But even then, Pereira must have set some sort of record for the lowest number of headstrikes in a title fight at 11. Reminder for those who don’t know: the Poatan is a world-class kickboxer—debatably the best in all of UFC.
The new champion said he was open to a rematch, and in the post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White white responded in a rather confident tone to a reporter who asked if that is what he thinks is next for Ankalaev.
“Probably,” White said.
Gaethje vs. Fiziev
UFC 313’s co-main event saw two warriors clash in a rematch, and it was about as exciting as everybody had expected. Gaethje was returning from being on the wrong side of a legendary knockout against Max Holloway, while Fiziev’s last fight ended in him being knocked out by Mateusz Gamrot in the second round nearly a year-and-a-half prior.
This fight also went the distance, and both men knew that the third round would decide the winner. The third was extremely tight, with Gaethje only throwing five more punches than Fiziev and landing nine more significant strikes, but that was all he needed to take the victory and keep his No. 3 contender spot.
One thing that shocked people was that Gaethje shot three takedowns during the fight—something he typically never does, despite his background as an elite collegiate wrestler.
Gaethje cracking Fiziev with an uppercut right on the chin gave us the moment of the match and its only knockdown. However, Gaethje could not finish the battle with the ground-and-pound, but he showed his classic no-fear fighting style that people at home love nonetheless.
As an extremely high contender with another win under his belt, Gaethje might have a shot at a title fight against Islam Makhachev—a fighter coached by the man who took Gaethje’s interim belt and became the then-Lightweight Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Turner vs. Bahamondes and Green vs. Ruffy
The co- and main event of UFC 313 were no doubt great fights, but two other battles on the main card ended in finishes that deserve a shout-out in this week’s volume. Both Ignacio Bahamondes and Mauricio Ruffy gave fans the performances of the night—and for good reason.
Bahamondes ensured that his fight ended in a quick finish, taking just 2:29 to lock Jalin Turner into a tight leg triangle that solicited a tap. This was especially interesting, as Bahamondes is not known for his groundwork but instead for his exciting standup game with powerful punches. Bahamondes will no doubt move into the top 15, which leaves a lot of questions as to what’s next for the Chilean.
King Green and Ruffy’s fight also ended early. In the middle stages of the third round, Ruffy had pushed Green backward toward the cage before throwing a spinning wheel kick that connected perfectly. Green fell to the mat, and Ruffy did not need any follow-up before the referee called the fight. Although we are only in March, this has an extremely high likelihood of being the knockout of the year or at least a deserving nominee. After the knockout, Ruffy’s next fight will almost certainly be against a ranked contender.