In his eighth year in the UFC, Magomed Ankalaev has won the welterweight championship by defeating Brazilian Alex Pereira in a five-round bout at the UFC tournament in Las Vegas. The bout lasted the full duration of five rounds, each lasting five minutes, leaving no doubt in the minds of the judges that Ankalaev was the winner. Their unanimous decision made him the first light heavyweight champion from Russia in the history of the UFC. This made him the third Dagestani fighter to reach the top of the UFC after Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.