Alex Pereira KOs Jiří Procházka at UFC 303 to Retain Light Heavyweight Title

Alex Pereira kept the UFC light heavyweight championship firmly around his waist with a second-round knockout win over Jiří Procházka in the main event of UFC 303 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Pereira was on point from the outset of the fight. Procházka often led the dance but Pereira consistently got the better of him with his counterpunching. He punctuated the round with one of his signature left hooks that had Procházka absolutely rocked.

It didn't take long after that for Pereira to secure the finish. He's usually known for his dynamite fists, but he went to his head kick to get the finish this time around, putting Procházka on the mat before following up with ground strikes.

Pereira's performance drew rave reviews from all over the media landscape:

Pereira has now defended his light heavyweight crown twice and brought some stability to a division that has been hectic since Jon Jones left in 2020. After vacating the belt to go chase the heavyweight championship the division has had five different champions.

Jan Blachowicz was the only one of those to successfully defend the title. Now Poatan is truly setting himself apart in the division by defending the belt twice.

It's a historic moment in Pereira's career that came together quickly. This was not a bout that was months in the making, but rather a card-saving scrap put together just two weeks ago when Conor McGregor withdrew from his scheduled bout with Michael Chandler after suffering a toe injury.

Taking on one of the best fighters in the light heavyweight division on short notice and beating him for a second time is just another bullet point in an elite resume. Pereira is the only fighter in UFC history to win both the middleweight and light heavyweight championships.

While there's going to be some talk about him going up to capture a third title in the heavyweight division, the Brazilian believes that there's at least one more 205er that he'd like to see in the cage.

"Magomed Ankalaev is a guy I would like to test myself against," Pereira recently told reporters. "A lot of people talk about that match up and say that he will submit me really quickly. I would like to shut a lot of those people up and show a lot of my ground game as well. It won't be an easy fight, but it will be a very interesting fight.''

Ankalaev is 18-1-1 with one no contest. The 32-year-old lost his UFC debut in 2018 but has since gone unbeaten in 12 fights.

He would provide a new challenge for Pereira. The former kickboxer hasn't seen many fighters with his grappling chops, but the champion has proven that he shouldn't be underestimated against anyone in the division.