At UFC 308, Magomed Ankalaev seemingly cemented his status as the next man to challenge Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title. Aside from one draw and a no contest, the Russian contender has won eleven fights in a row inside the Octagon and has waited a long time for his opportunity.
In his latest win in Abu Dhabi last month, he stuck to his word by standing and striking with Aleksandar Rakić for three rounds in order to prove a point about his well-rounded skill set. Ankalaev’s striking has certainly improved during his time in the UFC but there’s no denying that his grappling is still his strongest attribute, even if he doesn’t use it much.
Ankalaev’s one and only loss in the UFC came on his debut with the promotion where he faced Scotland’s Paul Craig in London. “Bearjew” was coming off of consecutive knockout losses at the time so needed a win in order to keep his UFC dream alive.
Despite being moments away from losing the fight, he incredibly pulled off a buzzer beater submission with just one second left on the clock, catching Ankalaev in a triangle choke. Ahead of his return at UFC 309 this weekend where he faces Bo Nickal at middleweight, Craig gave his thoughts on Ankalaev’s chances of becoming the champion in a recent interview with talkSPORT MMA.
Craig believes that his former foe is in a good position to dethrone “Poatan” but he cannot afford to go into this fight with the same stubbornness that will see him strike with the champion rather than utilizing his grappling.
When you bring in someone like the Dagestanis who have incredible wrestling pressure and work ethic, it’s tough. Do I think Ankalaev can beat Pereira? I do believe he can. I believe he’s got all the credentials as long as he doesn’t go into this thing where he believes he’s a striker. You stand in front of someone with a kickboxing pedigree that Pereira has and I believe it can be a 50:50 lottery sometimes. Ankalaev, if he plays his skill set well and uses his wrestling and uses his striking to get in deep and out wrestle, I believe that’s how he can get that victory.
