Ankalaev Vs. Pereira 2 Full Fight Card Betting Odds

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 08: (L-R) Alex Pereira of Brazil faces Magomed Ankalaev of Russia in the UFC light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 313 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 08, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Zuffa LLC

The long break between UFC pay-per-view fight cards ends this week. On Saturday, October 4, the fight promotion holds its first PPV event since UFC 319, which took place in mid-August. This weekend’s card, UFC 320, features two title fights at the top of the marquee.

In the UFC 320 main event, current UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev puts his title on the line against the man he took the belt from, Alex Pereira. Ankalaev defeated Pereira at UFC 313 in March, winning the UFC 205-pound crown via unanimous decision.

In the co-main event of UFC 320, the promotion’s bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili, looks to become the eighth UFC champion to successfully defend their crown three times in a calendar year. Dvalishvili faces one-time UFC interim bantamweight title challenger Cory Sandhagen on Saturday night.

UFC 320 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The UFC 320 pay-per-view card streams on ESPN+ PPV at 10:00 p.m. ET following prelims on ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.

Below, we look at the early fight week betting odds for the full UFC 320 fight card.

ForbesUFC 320 Main Event: Magomed Ankalaev Vs. Alex Pereira 2 Opening OddsBy Trent Reinsmith

UFC 320 Pay-Per-View Card Betting Odds: Ankalaev Vs. Pereira 2

Magomed Ankalaev (-270) vs. Alex Pereira (+230) for Ankalaev’s UFC light heavyweight title

Merab Dvalishvili (-410) vs. Cory Sandhagen (+310) for Dvalishvili’s UFC bantamweight title

Jiří Procházka (-170) vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. (+145) – light heavyweight

Josh Emmett (+355) vs. Youssef Zalal (-455) – featherweight

Abusupiyan Magomedov (+205) vs. Joe Pyfer (-240) – middleweight

UFC 320 Preliminary Card Betting Odds: Ankalaev Vs. Pereira 2

Edmen Shahbazyan (-275) vs. André Muniz (+235) – middleweight

Chris Gutiérrez (+330) vs. Farid Basharat (-400) – bantamweight

Daniel Santos (-141) vs. Joosang Yoo (+121) – featherweight

UFC 320 Early Preliminary Card Betting Odds: Ankalaev Vs. Pereira 2

Macy Chiasson (-202) vs. Yana Santos (+172) – bantamweight

Patchy Mix (-250) vs. Jakub Wikłacz (+210) – bantamweight

Punahele Soriano (-280) vs. Nikolay Veretennikov (+240) – welterweight

Ramiz Brahimaj (+250) vs. Austin Vanderford (-300) – welterweight

Veronica Hardy (-650) vs. Brogan Walker (+475) – flyweight

*Odds via BetOnline

ForbesUFC 320 Co-Main Event: Dvalishvili Vs. Sandhagen Opening Betting OddsBy Trent Reinsmith

UFC 320 Main Event: Magomed Ankalaev Vs. Alex Pereira 2

Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1-1) 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.

When the UFC booked the UFC 313 matchup between Ankalaev opened as the -200 favorite over Pereira, who was listed at +170. On fight night, Pereira had moved to a -120 betting favorite over the +100 Ankalaev.

The bout lasted 25 minutes. At the end of the contest, Ankalaev earned a unanimous decision win (49-46, 48-47, 48-47).

At the time, I wrote of Ankalaev, “Magomed Ankalaev and his team put together, implemented, and stuck with a strong game plan for Saturday’s fight against Alex Pereira. The strategy was to pressure Pereira, land effective strikes, keep the threat of a takedown in Pereira’s head, and exploit his lack of defensive movement. Ankalaev did just that, seeming to freeze Pereira over the final 20 minutes of the fight and avoid taking any serious damage.

“Fans might not have liked the performance, and the UFC is most likely not going to be overjoyed to see the light heavyweight title move from a knockout artist like Pereira to a fighter like Ankalaev, who is known more for decisions than stoppages, but that’s where they are following UFC 313.

“Ankalaev fought smartly and effectively, managing risk while doing enough damage to carry all three scorecards. Fans don’t have to like it, but there’s no controversy in the decision.”

Alex Pereira (12-3) 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.

Following his UFC 313 loss to Ankalaev, I wrote the following about the vanquished champion:

“Alex Pereira lost his UFC light heavyweight title on Saturday night, falling by unanimous decision to Magomed Ankalaev. Pereira did not seem to have a game plan to answer the pressure and forward motion of his opponent. With Ankalaev leading the dance in the final 20 minutes, Pereira seemed unable or unwilling to switch the momentum of the fight. It was a puzzling performance from the man who entered UFC 313 with an aura of invincibility about him.

“Pereira’s inability to fight off his back foot and inability to keep his head off the center line while defending strikes were especially noticeable on Saturday night.”

UFC 320 Co-Main Event: Merab Dvalishvili Vs. Cory Sandhagen

Merab Dvalishvili (20-4), a long-time training partner of former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling stepped into the spotlight of the promotion’s 135-pound division in September 2014 when he scored a unanimous decision win over then-champion Sean O’Malley in the main event of UFC 306.

The 33-year-old Dvalishvili joined the UFC in 2017 as much-hyped prospect. At the time, Dvalishvili was 7-2 and had won and defended the Ring of Combat bantamweight crown.

Dvalishvili did not have a smooth start to his UFC run, losing his first two fights. Falling to Frankie Saenz by decision, and the second, to Ricky Simon, via submission. In September 2018, things clicked in place for the Serra-Longo Fight Team product, and he has not lost since.

Heading into UFC 306, Dvalishvili was on a 10-fight winning streak. Prior to his matchup against O’Malley, Dvalishvili had defeated Marlon Moraes, Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo. The win over O’Malley stretched his winning streak to 11 straight. Dvalishvili extended that streak to 12 when he defended his title with a unanimous decision win over the previously unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311.

Dvalishvili faced O’Malley in a rematch at UFC 316. O’Malley had not fought since he lost his title to Dvalishvili at UFC 306. Despite making wholesale changes to his life and training heading into UFC 316, Dvalishvili easily dispatched O’Malley in their second meeting, ending the fight in the third round via submission.

Cory Sandhagen (18-5) joined the UFC in 2018 with a 7-1 record. He went unbeaten in his first five fights with the promotion. That run, culminating with decision wins over John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao, earned the then 28-year-old the No. 4 ranking in the UFC’s 135 weight class and a matchup against the No. 2 ranked Aljamain Sterling.

The slick Sterling submitted Sandhagen in the first round, earning himself a shot at the UFC bantamweight title, a belt he won in his next outing. As for Sandhagen, the submission setback did not hurt him in the rankings, as he remained at No. 4.

Following his first UFC loss, the UFC booked Sandhagen against the No. 1 ranked Marlon Moraes. Sandhagen won that fight and a “Performance of the Night” bonus with a highlight-reel spinning wheel kick KO.

That stunning stoppage earned Sandhagen the No. 2 ranking in the division and a fight against former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. Sandhagen dispatched Edgar with a vicious flying knee 28 seconds into that bout. He again earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his effort.

A decision loss to former UFC bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw followed Sandhagen’s win over Edgar. He then faced ex-135-pound champ Petr Yan for the interim UFC bantamweight belt in October 2021. The scrap was “Fight of the Night” on the UFC 267 pay-per-view card, but Yan picked up the victory and the belt via unanimous decision.

Following that setback, Sandhagen, who is now 33, was on a three-fight winning streak with victories over Song Yadong, Marlon “Chito” Vera, and Rob Font. Sandhagen saw that run come to a halt in August 2024 when he dropped a decision to Umar Nurmagomedov in a bantamweight title eliminator.

In May, Sandhagen rebounded from his loss to Nurmagomedov with a TKO win over former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.

Sandhagen is the No. 4 fighter in the official UFC bantamweight rankings.

We will have more on the UFC 320 fight card as fight night nears.