UFC 303 takeaways: Is Pereira-Adesanya 3 inevitable?

Alex Pereira retained the UFC light heavyweight title for the second time Saturday, defeating Jiri Prochazka via second-round TKO in the UFC 303 main event in Las Vegas.

In the co-headliner, surging featherweight Diego Lopes took a unanimous decision over last-minute replacement Dan Ige, who unprecedentedly accepted the fight on three hours' notice after Brian Ortega withdrew due to an illness.

Here are four takeaways from the pay-per-view event.

Pereira a level above Prochazka

Ahead of their first fight at UFC 295, and even ahead of the rematch, everybody talked about how Pereira and Prochazka were equals, two of the hardest-hitting and wildest fighters in the world, two immovable forces colliding in the center of the Octagon. Everybody talked about how they could have 100 fights and win 50 each, how we'd see a different outcome each time.

It makes sense when you consider what they'd achieved in MMA. Prochazka was 3-0 in the promotion heading into UFC 295 with devastating knockouts of Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes and a stunning, title-winning submission of Glover Teixeira. Pereira had already beaten the likes of Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Jan Blachowicz one-and-a-half years into his UFC career. These were indeed two of the UFC's best - and most violent - light heavyweights. And it felt like either of them could beat the other at any given time.

But Pereira proved Saturday with another knockout win over Prochazka that he is, in fact, a level above the former champion. Pereira made it look easier than last time. Prochazka landed 30 significant strikes in the first fight, and Pereira held him to just seven in the rematch. Pereira stayed composed on the feet and controlled the action. He seemed more comfortable than before. And when he saw the right opening, "Poatan" blasted his latest victim with a high kick to the dome and sealed the deal with brutal ground-and-pound.

Prochazka is an elite fighter, but Pereira's power gave him too much of an edge in this particular stylistic matchup (which is also true in most of Pereira's fights). His UFC 295 win was not particularly convincing in that he would beat Prochazka more than half the time, but his UFC 303 win was very convincing. In the end, there was nothing even close to flukey about either of Pereira's knockouts.

Pereira separated himself from Prochazka - and, by default, the rest of the 205-pound division - in a way no one could've imagined was possible 14 months ago when Pereira was reeling from a knockout loss to Adesanya in his first middleweight title defense and Prochazka was considered the UFC's top light heavyweight. Pereira continues to amaze, and just shy of his 37th birthday, he somehow seems to be getting better.

Pereira-Adesanya 3 could be coming

Who wouldn't want to watch Pereira and Adesanya square off for a third time?

It wasn't long ago that the two rivals appeared to be heading in opposite directions - Adesanya lost the middleweight belt to Strickland, and Pereira, of course, moved to light heavyweight and won that title. But there's a chance we could see the trilogy bout come to fruition in the not-too-distant future.

Adesanya is scheduled to challenge Dricus Du Plessis and will attempt to become a three-time 185-pound champion at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. If Adesanya regains the throne, a champ-versus-champ rubber match against his nemesis and the man he knocked out in April 2023 - and who knocked him out in November 2022 - may be too lucrative of a fight for the UFC brass to pass up.

"They're still at the top of their game," White said of Pereira and Adesanya at the UFC 303 postfight press conference. "You could (book the third fight)."

That's not what Robert Whittaker and Magomed Ankalaev, who have relatively strong arguments for the next middleweight and light heavyweight title shot, respectively, want to hear. But those two should be prepared to wait a while longer if Adesanya beats Du Plessis in August. The Pereira trilogy bout - at 205 pounds, to give Adesanya another shot at becoming a two-division champion - might just be the biggest fight the UFC could make right now.

Dana's right: Lopes, Ige are studs

Lopes and Ige deserve all the praise and then some after saving the UFC 303 co-main event. UFC CEO Dana White called them "absolute studs," and he's bang on.

Starting with Ige, he was taking a nap at his home in Las Vegas when the UFC called him to see if he would head over to T-Mobile Arena and fight Lopes on literally a few hours' notice in the co-feature of the annual International Fight Week pay-per-view. Ige said yes, and the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) approved the new matchup. Stepping in the way Ige did is risky and takes massive guts.

Lopes should get just as much credit for agreeing to fight Ige after such a hectic week. For starters, it was a completely different stylistic matchup - Ige is a striker and Ortega is primarily a grappler. It was also a completely different weight class. Lopes was supposed to fight Ortega at 145 pounds, and then 155 pounds after Ortega was unable to make weight. And then in the end, Lopes-Ige was contracted at a 165-pound catchweight the night of the fight. Ige, who had been in training camp for a July 20 bout, did not have to cut weight.

Lopes got the unanimous decision victory, and he's due for another big fight next. Lopes is ranked No. 14 in the featherweight division and riding a four-fight winning streak. Ige, No. 13 in the division, impressed in defeat. He won the third round and rallied hard for a come-from-behind knockout. He walked away with a moral victory.

"He didn't lose," White said of Ige. "You can't lose. When you come in like Ige came in and you do what he did, this is not a loss. ... He already had a tremendous amount of street cred. And it just went through the roof tonight."

This co-main event - and all the unique circumstances around it - will give both Lopes and Ige a lot of new fans.

"When you give (Ige) that level of respect, you have to give it to Diego Lopes," White said. "That guy went through hell this week."

Garry needs a top-five opponent next

Ian Machado Garry faced some criticism after his unanimous decision win over Michael "Venom" Page in the UFC 303 main-card opener. It was a close fight and could've gone either way. And for a 26-year-old who is considered the future of the welterweight division, it wasn't an overly memorable performance.

That said, Garry's victory over Page wasn't nearly as bad as some so-called fans are pretending. Page is a tricky fighter to compete against, a tough code to crack. He has an unorthodox karate style and a very long reach for 170 pounds. The fact that Garry managed to eke out a win is impressive enough. The Irishman leaned particularly on his grappling, which demonstrates that he had a solid game plan going in and is a mature fighter.

Now that we know Garry can beat the likes of Page and Geoff Neal, it is time to find out if he is a legitimate title contender. Garry should fight a top-five opponent next, potentially with a crack at Leon Edwards' belt on the line. Former champion Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, and Shavkat Rakhmonov would all be great foes - whatever makes the most sense scheduling-wise is whom the UFC should go with.