5 fighters from Dagestan who could follow in Khabib Nurmagomedov's footsteps and claim UFC gold
For years now, the Republic of Dagestan has produced some of the best MMA fighters on the planet. The standout is obviously former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is now retired and doesn’t appear to be about to return any time soon. So, could another of the current fighters from Dagestan emulate him and capture UFC gold?
This guy very happy @UmarNmgdv https://t.co/Pm0iHFDSKr
With plenty of current title contenders hailing from the Republic, there’s definitely a chance that one of them will do so in the near future.
With that in mind, here are five fighters from Dagestan who could follow in Khabib’s footsteps and win UFC gold.
#5. Magomed Ankalaev – UFC light heavyweight contender
Magomed Ankalaev is set to fight Thiago Santos in the headline bout of this weekend’s UFC Fight Night card. While he might not be granted an instant title shot with a victory, putting ‘Marreta’ away will probably put him one fight at most away from that spot.
Magomed Ankalaev is a -500 favourite against Thiago Santos in this weekend's UFC Fight Night main event.
Fighters with "Magomed" in their name have a 45-8 (.849 win%) record all-time in the UFC.
Based on what we’ve seen thus far of him inside the octagon, it’s going to be pretty tricky to stop the Dagestani fighter from climbing to the top of the 205lbs division, regardless of who holds the title when his eventual shot comes.
Ankalaev has won a total of seven straight bouts since his arrival in the promotion in 2018. He has impressed hugely in practically all of them.
Not only does he possess the kind of powerful, smothering wrestling game that the majority of his countrymen have also displayed, but his striking is on point, too. He’s picked up four KO or TKO stoppages in the octagon – earning three $50k bonus awards in the process – and most recently dominated former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir on the feet.
Essentially, whether Glover Teixeira or Jiri Prochazka holds the light heavyweight crown, if Ankalaev captures a title shot it probably won’t matter. He’d likely be confident in taking either man down, and may be able to outstrike Teixeira if it came to that.
Ankalaev may not be as marketable as the trash-talking, charismatic Khabib, but there’s no doubt that he’s got a good chance of following him to glory in the octagon.