Magomed Ankalaev outshined several reigning UFC champions in a key statistic following his latest Octagon appearance.
Ankalaev realized his lifelong dream of becoming a UFC titleholder this past Saturday, toppling long-reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira with a unanimous decision victory in the UFC 313 main event.
The Dagestani stepped into the fight with a calculated game plan, but despite his high-level wrestling credentials, he failed to take Pereira down. Instead, he maintained steady aggression and strategically timed his strikes, ultimately convincing the judges to rule in his favor.
Despite widespread criticism of his fighting style as "boring," Ankalaev’s social media popularity skyrocketed, gaining massive traction across platforms.
Recently, a sharp-eyed MMA fan on X compiled snippets from the UFC’s Instagram, showcasing every champion having their belt wrapped around their waist after the first three pay-per-views of the year. To many fans' surprise, Magomed Ankalaev topped the list with a staggering 26.8 million views.
Trailing behind him was reigning lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, who racked up 19.1 million views, followed by bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili with 17 million. Middleweight titleholder Dricus Du Plessis secured 11.8 million, while strawweight queen Zhang Weili rounded out the list with 4.3 million views.
At the time of writing, the video capturing Ankalaev’s crowning moment has amassed over 46.2 million views and garnered an impressive 1.4 million likes.
Ankalaev previously vied for the 205-pound title at UFC 282 in December 2022, facing Jan Błachowicz. After an intense back-and-forth battle, the contest ended in a draw.
With his win at UFC 313, the 32-year-old Russian extended his unbeaten streak to 14 fights. Remarkably, the only blemish on his professional record dates back to March 2018, when he fell to Paul Craig via submission in the final seconds of their bout.