UFC 313: Alex Pereira (C) vs Magomed Ankalaev Fight Card Best Bets, Analysis, & Predictions

UFC 313 goes down this Saturday night after a successful week of media and press conference madness. With a successful Friday morning of weigh ins, all 24 fighters have successfully made weight and all 12 bouts have been made official. Fight fans hope the good vibes of successful weigh ins translate to a night of great fights!

The Main Event was made official with both the champion in Pereira , and the challenger in Ankalaev successfully making the 205 championship limit. Pereira is looking to keep his win streak going while also adding another title defense to his record.

Riding in red hot with 4 knock out wins in a row, Pereira has shown ungodly power in this division while building himself as one of the faces of the UFC. At 37 years old, father time seems to be no where in sight for the 2 division champion.

Ankalaev has shown confidence throughout his fight week interviews and does not seem to be concerned with the power Pereira posses at all. The game plan here for him seems to be rather simple, take Pereira down.

Riding a win streak of his own, Ankalaev is looking to make the most of his 3rd title shot. Will the 3rd time be the charm or will the Champion in Pereira finally answer the age old grappling question to pass the test and claim his 5th title defense?

I have created this Best Bets guide to provide deeper analysis on some of the big fights and provide our readers here at Betting News with the best gambling experience possible for UFC 313 Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev. Lines are moving, money is coming in and there is less then 24 hours to get our bets in so lets dive into it!

All betting odds are presented by BetOnline.ag as of 7pm 3/7/2025

UFC 313: Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev Fight Card Analysis, Best Bets, Predictions

In a long awaited match up in the Light heavyweight division on Saturday, we will finally get the answer to the age old question. Can Alex Pereira win against a grapple heavy gameplan? With the champion seemingly defying all other odds since his arrival to the UFC, my gut leads me to believe he can. Even at 37 years old, he just keeps getting better with age.

Over his 10 fight UFC career we have seen Pereira blossom to a full blown superstar. Not only is he winning his fights in impressive fashion, he has also become one of the more active champions, defending his belt 4 times within one calendar year. Pereira has shown no fear to fight grapplers, even coming out on top over former champion Jan Blachowicz in a close decision.

With every round starting on the feet, Pereira will have a punchers chance through out this fight. It must be mentioned though, Ankalaev may be from Dagestan , but he is far from the typical wrestler we see come out of Dagestan.

Ankalaev is coming into this fight riding a very shaky 11 fight win streak, with a No Contest and a draw in the mix. He has shown to be a very technical striker in his UFC tenure, not making wrestling a major part of his game through out. Sporting just a 30% takedown accuracy, and averaging just under 1 takedown attempt per fight, he is far from a high level wrestler.

He prefers a technical kickboxing match, but can stick to a gameplan if all else fails. He has failed his first 2 attempts at the title, and has dropped the ball a little on the biggest stage. Being in his 3rd title fight without a win , is defiantly a red flag in my book. The blueprint to beat Pereira has been written on the wall for years, take him down and take away his striking. I am just not convinced he will be able to do that for 25 minutes.

Pereira has beaten all the odds thus far and has been an absolute money train since arriving to the UFC, this is not a matchup I would be willing to get off the train for.

Alex Pereira (C) vs Magomed Ankalaev Prediction: Alex Pereira wins (-115) at Betonline

Alex Pereira (C) vs Magomed Ankalaev Best Bet: Alex Pereira Moneyline (-115) at Betonline

Co – Main Event: Rafael Fiziev vs Justin Gaethje Analysis – Lightweight

In a massive matchup in the Lightweight division, we see a rematch between 2 of the more prominent names in the division. Gaethje will make his long awaited return from his brutal Ko loss to Max Holloway. In what would turn out to be the knockout of the year, Gaethje and Holloway went thru a back and forth 5 round war leading up to the KO.

We saw Gaethje have serious success through out the fight, fighting very well while hindered and showing he still has it at his age. In the first matchup against Fiziev, Justin survived the striking onslaught of Fiziev early. He later rallied to steal the 2nd and 3rd rounds, relying on his jab and badly damaging Fiziev’s Eye.

Gaethje has proven to be more gameplan oriented now a days, contrary to his early stand n bang style. With him being as high level of a fighter as he is, I fully expect him to bounce back and develop a great gameplan with head coach Trevor Whitman to defeat Fiziev for the 2nd Time.  Coming off such a brutal knockout, I also expect him to be a little gun shy in the pocket and more willing to stick to a gameplan no matter how long it takes to secure the win.

Fiziev is also making his return after a long 2 year lay off for a knee injury suffered in his loss to high level wrestler , Mateusz Gamrot. With a successful knee surgery, being only 32 tears old, and having over a year to recover , I fully expect to see a healthy Fiziev Saturday night. Known as a very technical kickboxer , he has shown his high level striking skills over his 9 fight UFC career. With things seemingly not lining up for him, the clock is ticking on his title aspirations.

He is a very fast twitch striker, utilizing as much energy as possible with each strike. He does a great job mixing strikes to the body and head, with a very versatile bag of tricks using his kicks just as much as his hands in most fights. The knee surgery and long lay off could prove costly to a fighter that relies on his athleticism to win most bouts. Ring rust is a very real thing and while also accepting this fight on just 2 weeks notice, I believe it will take him a round or so to get settled into the fight providing a fight that goes into the later rounds.

Rafael Fiziev vs Justin Gaethje Prediction: Gaethje wins by Points (+300) at Betonline

Rafael Fiziev vs Justin Gaethje Best Bet: Over 2.5 Total Rounds (-130) at Betonline

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Preliminary Card: Joshua Van vs Rei Tsuruya Analysis – Flyweight

A massive match up in the Fly weight division is going down Saturday night with 2 high level prospects squaring off. Joshua Van, riding a respective 2 fight win streak is looking to jump into the rankings with a statement win. Seemingly looking impressive at just 22 years old, the future is very clearly bright for the young striker. He has shown clean boxing in the pocket, while also being precisely fast and accurate with his punches. Van typically takes a round to download information and unfortunately loses the first round of his fights at a pretty high clip. He tends to apple his reads through out the 2nd and 3rd rounds to takeover the fight.

Van has solid takedown defense sporting a 80% takedown defense average, while also attempting 1.32 takedowns per fight himself. Yet when he does get taken down the 20% of the time, he tends to spend the majority of the round on his back which could be problematic in winning minutes.  With a win over another top prospect in Tsuruya, he will be building quite the resume while still being so young in his career.

Coming in across from him , we see the prospect in Rei Tsuruya make his 2nd UFC appearance. With an unimpressive debut win over Carlos Hernandez, he is looking to make more of a statement with a huge win over the proven prospect in Van. Tsuruya showcased his wrestling in his debut, but looked very uncomfortable in some striking exchanges and had a hard time holding Hernandez down. He looks a little raw still being so young, but the athleticism and grappling skill has shown flashes of greatness.

I believe the bright lights may have affected his performance a little in his debut and he is a much better fighter then fight fans expect. I expect very quick improvements out of him at his age, and to implement a grapple heavy gameplan in this fight against Van Saturday night. With Van seemingly taking the 1st round off in each of his fights, and the grappling upside of Tsuruya he will be the minute winner over the course of 3 rounds. I believe Rei will make a statement on a huge PPV card with a win over very skilled Van, and announce his official arrival to the flyweight division.

Joshua Van vs Rei Tsuruya Prediction: Rei Tsuruya wins by Points (+250) BetOnline

Joshua Van vs Rei Tsuruya Best Bet: Rei Tsuruya Moneyline (+145) at BetOnline

Preliminary Card: Ozzy Diaz vs Djorden Santos Analysis – Middleweight

In the first matchup of the card we see the debut of Contender series alum Djorden Santos. In a seemingly uneventful fight on the contender series, Santos managed to secure a contract anyways. The uneventful side of the fight seems to be a recent theme in Santos fights, with 3 straight decision wins including the regional scene. He has implemented grapple heavy game plans in each and has failed to secure the finish despite the level of competition in all 3. It certainly appears that Santos has problems finishing his breakfast in the morning, nevermind a UFC level fight. He is the clear A side in the fight coming in as a 2-1 favorite, with the grappling and striking upside favoring him in the matchup , will he show off his abilities or fight safe to secure the debut win? My gut tells me the later is more realistic.

Diaz has had more of a rough run in the UFC, being finished in both is debut and his contender series bout despite showing true promise on the regional scene. He is a traditional kickboxer that prefers to meet in the middle and bang it out until someone falls. He is a kill or be killed fighter through in through but it is hard to believe with Santos style he will get his wish in this bout.

Making the drop to middleweight from light heavyweight, we may see a different version of him at the new weight class. I believe he has the takedown defense to make this fight sloppy and make Santos grind for the takedowns. I expect him to be fiesty enough to push this fight into the later rounds. While only seeing a 3rd round one time in his 12 fight career, the books have set the total at 2.5 rounds which in my opinion, is very vindictive to what they see happening in the fight.

Ozzy Diaz vs Djorden Santos Prediction: Djorden Santos Wins by Points (+230) at Betonline

Ozzy Diaz vs Djorden Santos Best Bet: Over 2.5 Total Rounds ( +130) at BetOnline

UFC 313 Schedule & FAQ:

When is UFC 313?

• UFC 313 will take place Saturday, March 8th, 2025.

Where is UFC 313?

• UFC 313 will go down live at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

What time does UFC 313 start?

• UFC 313 Early Preliminary Card Start time: 6:30 p.m. ET
• UFC 313 Preliminary Card start time: 8:00 p.m. ET
• UFC 313 Main Card start time: 7 p.m. ET

How to Watch UFC 313?

• UFC 313 Early Preliminary Card Coverage: ESPN & ESPN+
• UFC 313 Preliminary Card Coverage: ESPN & ESPN+
• UFC 313 Main Card Coverage: ESPN+

How to Bet on UFC 313?

• Most international and domestic sportsbooks will carry odds for a fight card of this caliber but click here for some sites and applications us bettors here at Betting News recommend for a great UFC betting experience.

If one thing is for sure, Saturday’s card is sure to bring the action. I hope this betting guide helps bring more context to your UFC entertainment experience.

If you want my full card of bets, tune into the Violence Report on our network on Twitch every Saturday, or more gambling content like this make sure to follow me on X or Betting News on all platforms!