After a successful event in Perth last weekend the UFC does not stop as we head to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this weekend for two title fights at UFC 320.
The UFC Light Heavyweight belt will be on the line in the main event as we see a rematch between champion Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira.
Current UFC Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili is looking to defend his belt for a third time as he takes on Cory Sandhagen in the co-main event.
We have offered our thoughts and betting plays for the entire main card below.
The only loss on the fighting CV of Magomed Ankalaev came when making his UFC debut way back in 2018 and it was in the strangest of circumstances.
Scottish fighter Paul Craig threw up a triangle in the dying seconds of the fight and locked it in for an unlikely submission win with just one second left in the fight.
Since then he is undefeated in 14 straight fights which includes a no contest and a draw.
He eventually won the belt against this very opponent in March via unanimous decision.
After a long and successful kickboxing career where he won titles in two separate divisions in Glory, Alex Pereira entered the UFC.
After just three fights in the biggest MMA promotion in the world he got his shot at UFC gold and defeated Israel Adesanya in the Middleweight division.
Remarkably, seven of his last eight fights have been title fights and he joined the elite club of winning belts in two separate divisions.
The first fight between this pair was a real battle but Ankalaev got the better of his opponent in most aspects of the sport.
It was one of the worst performances of Alex Pereira’s MMA career and he simply did not look his usual devastating best and there looks real value on offer especially considering his exceptional striking abilities.
The market seems to reflect that his only chance at victory is with a knockout, and while that view is not without credit, I disagree.
Merab Dvalishvili is one of the most dominant, and weirdest, bantamweights we have seen in the history of the division in the UFC.
His personality isn’t the only unique thing about him as he has proven himself a tricky puzzle for opponents to work out.
Of course the Georgian champion relies heavily on his wrestling heavy tactics during his fights to dominate position and control the fight, but his striking has improved dramatically in the last year or so.
He won the belt off Sean O’Malley this time last year before beating Umar Nurmagomedov by decision four months later, and then O’Malley again by submission.
That submission was just the fifth finish of his 20-win career and although he is not the most exciting fighter on the UFC roster, he has been active which is a positive for fight fans.
Cory Sandhagen made his UFC debut at the start of 2018 and has been a fairly active fighter since that time with 15 fights.
He has fought in two title elimination fights as well as fighting for an interim belt but has unfortunately lost all three.
After losing that fight for the interim belt against Petr Yan in 2021 he has four of his last five fights including two decisions and two doctor’s stoppages.
A reflection of the shallowness of the division, and the dominance of the champion, can be found with the fact that Sandhagen gets this title opportunity on the back of a win in which his opponent was injured.
Sandhagen was drowned by Umar Nurmagomedov this time last year and this match up is very similar and while he is capable of some weird and wacky striking at times that could finish the fight, this looks pretty straight forward.
Former Rizin Light Heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka added UFC gold to his cabinet in just his third fight in the promotion and has a similar pathway to Alex Pereira.
Jiri will be hoping for the champion to defend his belt in the main event as he will be the obvious choice should he get past Rountree in this fight.
He has, of course, lost to Pereira twice already.
Either side of his last loss to Pereira, Prochazka has knockout wins over Aleksandar Rakic and Jamahal Hill and he is as well rounded of a fighter that there is in the entire division.
Khalil Rountree junior has had a resurrection in recent years and five straight wins earned him a title shot against Pereira this time last year.
He lost that fight in the fourth round after being comfortably beaten during the first part of the fight.
He showed his toughness to stay in the fight for as long as he did but was overwhelmed by the striking capabilities of the former champion.
I’m predicting a similar scenario in this match up.
40 year-old Josh Emmett comes into his 25th career pro MMA fight having won just one of his last four fights inside the octagon.
Those three losses came against former interim champions Yair Rodriguez and Illia Topuria as well as Lerone Murphy by decision in April.
Moroccan born Youssef Zalal made his UFC debut in 2020 and was successful in his first three fights before failing to win in his next four.
He was cut from the UFC after that string of fights, but since returning he has won four in a row including three submissions.
Emmett is a very capable wrestler who has solid takedown defence so Zalal will not have it all his own way and the last time Emmett faced a BJJ black belt in Bryce Mitchell, he produced one of the most viscous knock outs we have ever seen in the octagon.
Youssef Zalal has come up incredibly short and I feel Josh Emmett has been disrespected by the market.
After an injury hiccup in his first stint on Dana White’s Contender Series, Joe Pyfer eventually earned a contract the second time around.
Since making his UFC debut in 2022 he has won five of his six fights including a unanimous decision win over former title challenger Kelvin Gastelum less than three months ago.
Abus Magomedov is a 35 year old veteran of 35 professional MMA fights, six of which have been in the UFC.
His two losses in the UFC came against former champion Sean Strickland and rising star of the division Ciao Borralho.
21 of his 28 career victories have been via finish and seven have been submission but he is going to have his work cut out for him to get a dominant position on the canvas against such a competent wrestler as Joe Pyfer.