Magomed Ankalaev would rather fight for a title. Until one is available, he’s happy to shut Paulo Costa up.
Ankalaev dominated Bogdan Guskov before finishing him in the fifth round of Saturday’s UFC Abu Dhabi main event, though the bout and its anticlimactic ending drew a chilly reaction from the Etihad Arena crowd. Costa, who moved up to light heavyweight earlier this year, twisted the knife on social media.
By the power of the Almighty, I shall save this weight class from monotony and boredom.
Asked about the jab at the post-fight press conference, Ankalaev welcomed the idea of a fight, with one condition.
I’m already the No. 1 contender, but as we know in this division right now our champion is hurt. We don’t know when he’s going to come back, so if he’s going to take a long time to come back, I would like to stay active… so if it is indeed that the champion’s going to be out for a little while, then potentially maybe we can have a good fight with Costa, unless he’s going to be running away.
The “champion” in question is Alex Pereira, who reclaimed the title from Ankalaev before vacating it to chase a third divisional belt at heavyweight, leaving the 205-pound picture in limbo.
Costa, meanwhile, has been pushing hard for a big fight since knocking out Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327 in his light heavyweight debut. The two are now openly trading shots, and with Pereira’s return date unknown, a fight to keep the division moving suddenly makes a lot of sense.
