UFC 313 Main Card Preview

Published by Paul Browne on March 5, 2025

Who’s In Action At UFC 313

It’s fight week!

UFC 313 goes down at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this Saturday night, with the biggest star in the organization over the past 2 years, Alex Pereira, front and center as he enters his FIFTH title fight in 16 months to face the division’s top-ranked contender, Magomed Ankalaev.

Here’s a look at the fights making up the main card this weekend.

Main Event – Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev (UFC Light Heavyweight Championship)

No fighter in the history of the sport has delivered quite as many ‘holy sh**’ moments in such a short space of time as Alex Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) has done since signing with the UFC back in 2021.

From capturing the middleweight title in just his fourth UFC appearance, to knocking out Jiri Prochazka just 2 years after his debut to become a 2-weight world champion, ‘Poatan’ has ripped up the rule book and redefined what true greatness looks like.

His title reign at 205 pounds has been exceptional. Watching him step up to headline the biggest events and consistently deliver jaw-dropping KO finishes has been surreal, and the Brazilian is aiming for a fifth-straight knockout against Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) on Saturday night.

After being bypassed repeatedly by the UFC when selecting opponents for Pereira over the past year, Ankalaev finally gets his shot at glory this weekend. His stoic demeanour, his lack of charisma, or perhaps simply a lingering bad taste following the dud that he and Jan Blachowicz dished up in their fight at UFC 282 for the vacant belt a few years back, have kept the Dagestani on the outside looking in while Pereira has been cleaning out the rest of the division.

His best path to victory will likely be to wrestle on Saturday night, but Ankalaev’s recent performances have been more boxing-heavy, so we wait with baited breath to see if he might change his approach this weekend.

Co-Main – Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev (155 pounds)

A short notice re-run of their exciting dust up at UFC 286. Following the late withdrawal of Dan Hooker from this weekend’s event, Fiziev threw his name in the hat while others shied away, and if this weekend’s bout is half as exciting as their first encounter, UFC fans are in for a treat.

Big question marks hang over how durable Justin Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) will be in the wake of the earth-shattering knockout he suffered at the hands of Max Holloway at UFC 300 last Spring, while Fiziev (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) makes the walk to the Octagon for the first time since rupturing his ACL during his fight against Mateusz Gamrot in September of 2023.

The speed advanatge of Fiziev was evident in the first bout and Gaethje endured some punishment in the first half of the fight before wearing his opponent down to earn a decision win. Should his chin not be as resilient as it has been over previous years, Fiziev certainly has the power to capitalize.

Jalin Turner vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (155 pounds)

At 6′ 3″, both of these fighters generally tower above their opponents at 155 pounds. Both are tall, rangy strikers who fight well on the outside, but the power of Bahamondes could be the difference in this encounter.

Bahamondes (16-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) really found his groove in 2024, picking up 2 sensational 1st-round knockout wins over Christos Giagos and Manuel Torres, while Turner (14-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has lost 3 of his last 4, having been TKOd in his only bout last year by Renato Moicano.

Iasmin Lucindo vs. Amanda Lemos (115 pounds)

23-year-old Iasmin Lucindo (17-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) looks to continue her ascent up the strawweight rankings when she faces former title contender Amanda Lemos (14-4-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) on Saturday.

Lucindo has won 4 on the bounce and outpointed both Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Marina Rodriguez in 2024 to climb to 7th place in the division, 2 spots below Lemos who, despite being 14 years older than Lucindo, will still pose a difficult challenge for the young Brazilian.

King Green vs. Mauricio Ruffy (155 pounds)

The main car opener sees another wily veteran, King Green (32-16-1 MMA, 13-11-1 UFC) face a Brazilian up-and-comer when he takes on the Fighting Nerds exciting striker, Mauricio Ruffy (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC).

Ruffy has drawn comparisons with a young Conor McGregor due to the way he moves and his dynamic one-punch power which saw him flatline the veteran Jamie mullarkey in his Octagon debut last May.

Green is looking to bounce back following his submission loss to Paddy Pimblett at UFC 304.