Magomed Ankalaev addresses being snubbed for UFC title fight with Alex Pereira: "They can no longer deny me"
Magomed Ankalaev is someone who many theorized was next for Alex Pereira. But as the former has now been locked in for a different bout this Fall, he has come out to address not getting a crack at the 205-pound crown.
UFC 308 transpires on October 26 and Ankalaev will collide with Aleksandar Rakic on the pay-per-view main card. Ankalaev is currently the number two-ranked contender in the division while Rakic is the number five-ranked 205-pound combatant in the promotion, as of this writing.
Taking to his personal X platform to respond to this somewhat surprising bout announcement, Ankalaev said,
"Now everybody knows I'm not fighting for the title and will fight Rakic in Abu Dhabi. Whoever Mick Maynard gives me I will smash their face so that they can no longer deny me if I do my job impressively. I feel sorry for whoever is gonna fight me from now going forward."
Check out Magomed Ankalaev's response to not getting the next light heavyweight title shot below:
Magomed Ankalaev's UFC resume and desire for a sophomore light heavyweight title crack
After losing his UFC debut to Paul Craig, in what is his lone pro mixed martial arts loss to date, Magomed Ankalaev has not tasted defeat in the octagon since.
He rebounded from that March 2018 blemish with a first-round striking-based stoppage over Marcin Prachnio. After notching a unanimous decision win over Klidson Abreu, Ankalaev scored a third-round front kick finish over Dalcha Lungiambula.
The 32-year-old would then score consecutive first-round finishes via punches over Ion Cutelaba. Three straight unanimous decision wins would follow over Nikita Krylov, Volkan Oezdemir, and Thiago Santos, respectively.
After consecutive wins over former light heavyweight title challengers, Ankalaev would best another one as he finished Anthony Smith with ground and pound in the second round of their UFC 277 matchup.
The Dagestan native would punch his ticket to what was his first shot at the light heavyweight crown but the finish was inauspicious. It was a split draw against former champion Jan Blachowicz with the crown being vacant at the time and no one left their UFC 282 headliner as the newly minted titleholder.
After another inconclusive ending with a no-contest in his first Johnny Walker fight, Magomed Ankalaev then finished Walker with punches during their rematch in January.