What You Need To Know About The UFC 313 Fight Card

Tonight, Saturday, March 8, the UFC is at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the UFC 313 fight card. In the main event, Alex Pereira puts his UFC light heavyweight title on the line against the man who many believe will be the champ’s biggest test, Magomed Ankalaev. Meanwhile, in the UFC 313 co-main event, Justin Gaethje meets Rafael Fiziev in a rematch that came together on short notice. Below is the important information you need to know about tonight’s UFC 313 fight card.

UFC Tonight: UFC 313 Fight Card – Alex Pereira Vs. Magomed Ankalaev

Alex Pereira (12-2) began 2023 by losing his UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya by knockout. In July, Pereira followed that setback with a win over former UFC light heavyweight title holder, Jan Błachowicz, in his UFC debut at 205 pounds. He finished the year by knocking out ex-UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jiří Procházka at UFC 295 to claim the vacant UFC 205-pound title.

Pereira made his first defense of his crown in April when he knocked out (another) ex-UFC light heavyweight champ, Jamahal Hill, in the first round of their UFC 300 matchup. Pereira showed his power is on another level, when he finished Hill 3:14 into the first round of the main event of UFC 300.

In June, on very short notice, the UFC called on Pereira and Procházka to headline UFC 303 when the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight fell off that card.

After the bout, which Pereira won via a knockout 13 seconds into the second stanza, I wrote:

“Pereira showed that his first win over Prochazka wasn’t a fluke. The UFC light heavyweight champ is a fearsome fighter who packs a lot of power in his strikes, but he’s also an extremely focused competitor who doesn’t let anything bother him.

“Pereira effectively scored two knockouts on Saturday night, blasting former champion Jiri Prochazka to the mat at the bell to end the first round and then sending him right back down in the opening moments of the second round with a head kick.”

In August the UFC booked Pereira against Khalil Rountree Jr for the main event of UFC 307, which took place on October 5. Pereira outclassed Rountree, putting a beating on his opponent before scoring a fourth-round TKO win.

Pereira picked up his third UFC title defense of 2024 on Saturday night. Pereira let his opponent, Khalil Rountree Jr, tire himself out in the early going of the fight while simultaneously slowing him with powerful kicks to Rountree’s lead leg. Pereira picked up the pace in the third round, fighting very effectively behind his jab. That jab opened up several nasty cuts around Rountree’s eye and on the bridge of his nose. Those blows hurt Rountree, and once Pereira had Rountree fading, he picked him apart with precision and power, forcing the referee, Marc Goddard, to stop the fight in the fourth round. Goddard could have stopped this much sooner.

Pereira was in the running for fighter of the year for 2024.

Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1-1) has been a member of the UFC roster since 2018. Ankalaev lost his UFC debut when Paul Craig submitted him at 4:59 of the third round. Since then, Ankalaev has gone 13 fights without a loss.

Ankalaev secured a title fight in December 2022 when he faced former UFC champion Jan Blachowicz for the vacant light heavyweight crown. However, that contest ended in a split draw, and with neither man impressing the matchmakers in that matchup, the UFC opted not to give either man a second go at earning the belt.

Since then, Ankalaev is 2-0-0-1 with a no contest (illegal knee) against Johnny Walker, and most recently a decision win over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308.

When the UFC opted to give UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira a fight against Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 and bypass Ankalaev, he felt snubbed by the promotion, but also motivated.

“Now everybody knows I’m not fighting for the title and will fight Rakic in Abu Dhabi. Whoever (UFC matchmaker) Mick Maynard gives me I will smash their face so that they can no longer deny me if I do my job impressively. I feel sorry for whoever is gonna fight me from now going forward,” Ankalaev said at the time.

Not long after that, Ankalaev said that Pereira was running from him.

On Saturday, Ankalaev gets the chance to face down Pereira.

Check out our betting picks for UFC 313

UFC Tonight: UFC 313 Fight Card – Justin Gaethje Vs. Rafael Fiziev 2

When Justin Gaethje (25-5) joined the UFC in 2017 he had a perfect record of 17-0. Leading up to that signing, Gaethje had won the World Series of Fighting lightweight title and then defended the belt five times. All six of his title fights under the WSOF banner ended by knockout.

Gaethje’s first fight with the UFC came in July 2017, when he met Michael Johnson in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 25 finale card. Expectations were high for that matchup, and Gaethje delivered, picking up a second-round TKO win over Johnson and earning “Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night” bonuses for a contest that won several “Fight of the Year” polls for 2017.

Every UFC fight Gaethje has been involved in since has been viewed with anticipation as he has one of the most fan-friendly styles in the history of not just the UFC but all of MMA. Gaethje might not win every time he steps into the octagon, but he is a fighter always looking to earn a stoppage win and entertain the fans. His 12 fight-night bonus awards in 12 UFC outings can attest to that.

Gaethje won the interim UFC lightweight crown in May 2020 with a knockout win over Tony Ferguson. However, he failed to unify the belts, losing to then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov by submission in October of that year. Gaethje also fell short in his second try at winning the UFC 155-pound belt, dropping a submission to Charles Oliveira for the vacant title in May 2022.

Gaethje bounced back from that loss with his majority decision victory over Fiziev at UFC 286. A fight that earned both men “Fight of the Night” honors. Geathje’s most recent win was his “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning outing over Poirier.

Gaethje has 20 career knockout wins, one submission victory, and he’s been on the right side of four decisions. The BMF champ’s career losses have come by knockout (three) and submission (two).

He is coming off a fight-of-the-year nominee for 2024, his UFC 300 KO loss to Max Holloway. Gaethje is the No. 3 fighter in the official UFC lightweight rankings.

Rafael Fiziev (12-3) joined the UFC in 2019. At the time he had a 6-0 record with six stoppages (five knockouts and one submission), with all but one of those fights ending in the first round. Fiziev’s UFC debut ended 86 seconds into the first round when he caught a spinning back kick from Magomed Mustafaev, who had not fought for more than two years.

Fiziev bounced back from his first career loss by going on a six-fight unbeaten streak. He climbed the rankings during that run, which began with an October 2019 decision win over Alex White and ended with a July 2022 knockout win over former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Fiziev picked up five fight-night bonuses during that stretch.

With his impressive run, Fiziev earned the No. 6 spot in the official UFC rankings. His reward was a matchup against Gaethje in the co-main event of UFC 286. Fiziev entered that bout as a -230 betting favorite over the +195 Gaethje.

The two put on a striking battle over three rounds in front of an appreciative crowd in London that evening. In the end, Gaethje earned the majority decision win. In his next outing, Fiziev faced Mateusz Gamrot in a UFC Fight Night main event. That contest ended abruptly in the second round when Gamrot scored a TKO win after Fiziev planted his leg to throw a kick and dropped to the canvas.

Fiziev has not fought since he tore his ACL in that contest, even though he was cleared for action in September 2024. Despite his inactivity, Fiziev is the No. 11 fighter in the official UFC lightweight rankings.

UFC Tonight: UFC 313 Fight Card

UFC Tonight: UFC 313 PPV Card

Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev
Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
Jalin Turner vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo
King Green vs. Maurício Ruffy

UFC Tonight: UFC 313 Preliminary Card

Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
Joshua Van vs. Rei Tsuruya
Brunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan
Alex Morono vs. Carlos Leal

UFC Tonight: UFC 313Early Preliminary Card

Mairon Santos vs. Francis Marshall
Chris Gutierrez vs. John Casteneda
Djorden Santos vs. Ozzy Diaz

UFC Tonight: UFC 313 Date

Saturday, March 8, 2025

UFC Tonight: UFC 313 Fight Card Location

T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV

UFC Tonight: UFC 313 Fight Card Time

Early Prelims (6:30 p.m. ET), Prelims (8:00 p.m. ET), PPV Card (10:00 p.m. ET)

UFC Tonight: UFC 312 Fight Card How to Watch or Stream

Early Prelims (UFC Fight Pass, ESPN+), Prelims (ESPN, ESPN+), PPV Card (ESPN+ PPV)

Stay tuned for more coverage from the UFC 313 fight card, as well as results, reactions, recaps from the tonight’s UFC event.