UFC Octoberfest: Major Bouts Announced For 320, 321
As the nights draw in and autumn grabs hold, MMA fans are blessed with a double bill of carnage and championship drama. UFC 320 and UFC 321 are about to turn October 2025 into a wall-to-wall highlight reel.
Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, two cities miles apart, will witness history as belts, bragging rights, and possibly entire divisions shift before our very eyes. From vengeance-laden rematches to heavyweight collision courses, here's your front-row seat to MMA's ultimate Octoberfest.
Main Event: Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2: Redemption or Regicide?
Step into the T-Mobile Arena and you won't just hear buzz: you'll feel it. Magomed Ankalaev, the light heavyweight champ, enters the cage with his signature poker face and even tighter strategy. Their first dance at UFC 313 was cerebral, not savage, as Ankalaev tamed Pereira with grappling threats and stand-up feints, denying fans the Pereira highlight reel they craved.
But Alex Pereira does his best work in rematches. The Brazilian is famed for rewriting narratives under the brightest lights. After a listless display last time, and losing his title (and aura), Pereira's camp hints at aggression—look for brisk low kicks, sniper (left) hooks, and feigned retreats to bait Ankalaev into the kill zone.
Merab Dvalishvili is appropriately called the machine; with thirteen wins on the trot, he's made the transition from 'that dude from Georgia" to the UFC's most suffocating force. He's grappled, ground, and gassed out two standouts—O'Malley and Nurmagomedov—in 2025 alone.
Standing across the gold line: Cory Sandhagen, the division's trickster and technician. Sandhagen's movement is balletic, his strikes precision-guided, his confidence the quiet kind. Can he keep Merab off him for five rounds, carving up the champ from range? Or will the 'Machine" simply wear him down, strip his gears, and leave Sandhagen scrambling for breath?
This is classic striker vs. grinder, with five rounds to decide the fate of the 135-lb kingdom.
The words 'Fight of the Year" are thrown around too easily, but when Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr. walk in, chaos feels inevitable. Prochazka's style is martial arts jazz—puzzling, unpredictable, and at times, blissfully reckless. With a head full of samurai quotes and an armory of unorthodox attacks, he brings a unique flavor to light heavyweight wars.
Rountree Jr. counters with pure Muay Thai muscle and a highlight reel loaded with violent finishes. Both balled through Jamahal Hill in style earlier this year. Whoever lands clean first likely walks away ranked, relevant, and possibly next in line for the division's big belt dance.
With Jon Jones now legend and memory, the heavyweight throne now Tom Aspinall's, Ciryl Gane will lock horns with the Englishman at the Etihad Arena to determine the true champion of a division that had been stagnant for too long.
Aspinall is what scientists might build if asked for the perfect heavyweight: nimble, fast-fisted, and equally sick on the mat. His finishing stats are fearsome, most wins wrapped up before you've finished your first round nachos.
Yet Gane is no one's stepping stone. His movement is ballet crossed with bone-breaking, and his striking is clinical. The consensus: if Aspinall bulldozes forward, Gane will slide, slip, and snipe. But if Gane's defensive wrestling hasn't leveled up since Jon Jones steamrolled him, the Brit's mix of takedowns, heavy hands, and ground strikes could spell a quick night.
This is heavyweight, reimagined: a matchup where agility matters, and anyone can lead the dance.
Though not officially announced, this major heavyweight bout is rumoured for 321, as it will set up the next potential challenger for the title.
Alexander Volkov is now a heavyweight mainstay, known for his teep kicks, textbook jab, and climbing ever closer to the elusive title shot. Recent results paint him as technical, patient, and adaptive—save for a razor-thin loss to Gane, that caused major controversy.
Enter Jailton Almeida—the submission machine. If he gets his mitts on you, good luck breathing for the rest of the round. His wrestling is relentless, and his mat control absolute, as victims Romanov and Spivac can attest.
The question: can Volkov freeze Almeida long enough to keep it standing, or will the Brazilian chain-wrestle his way to another dominant win?
Why October Matters:
– Can Ankalaev shut down the 'Poatan storm" again, or does Pereira drop another highlight-reel finish for immortality?
– Will the 'Machine" finally get short-circuited at bantamweight, or is Sandhagen's slick striking his saving grace?
– Does the heavyweight division get a new era of speed and skill with Aspinall, or is Gane simply too smooth to hit?
– And among the chaos merchants and on-the-cusp contenders, who will steal the show—and perhaps a golden ticket to a title shot?
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Every bout, from title tilts to rising prospect showdowns, carries massive implications—championships, contenders, even careers hang in the balance. Both cards are looking to be devilishly stacked, clever in their matchmaking, and designed for pure spectacle.
So, grab your snacks, assemble your crew, and cancel everything else. Because this October, the UFC throws down not one but two gauntlets—and you won't want to blink.
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July 23, 2025, 11:10 IST
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