UFC 313: Pereira vs. Ankalaev picks and predictions

See who we think will win in Vegas this weekend.

Art by Chris Rini.

After that abomination of a fight card last week the UFC is back with a really kinda sorta OK pay-per-view event. UFC 313 is headlined by Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev. That should be interesting and could see a very fun, dynamic and interesting champion replaced by Magomed Ankalaev.

The co-main event should have been Justin Gaethje vs. Dan Hooker. However, Hooker broke his hand and has been replaced by Rafael Fiziev. Fiziev is coming off a long injury lay-off. He’s hoping to avenge a majority decision loss he took against Gaethje in 2023.

The main card also has Jalin Turner vs. Igancio Bahamondes. That one’s probably good for a highlight reel finish. Rounding out the PPV is Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo and King Green vs. Conor McGregor Mauricio Ruffy.

There’s some alright Prelims action, too. Joshua Van vs. Rei Tsuruya could be nutty.

As always, we’ve looked over all these fights and done our best to pick who is going to win and how. You can check all those out below. Please, though, if you’re using our picks for betting — do so responsibly.

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Alex Pereira (-110) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (-110)

Miguel Class: Finally, we get a truly compelling matchup for Alex Pereira. And I’m not one of those people that just think Dagestani fighters are going to crush everyone. In fact, this is a pretty close matchup in my eyes. We’re all well aware of the deficiencies in Pereira’s wrestling and grappling and despite frequently posting clips of him training in what appears to be a serious attempt to level up his skills on the mat, all the training footage I see of him somehow makes him look even worse.

But this matchup is compelling because Ankaleav is not a very determined offensive grappler. In his previous chance to claim light heavyweight gold he also faced…