Magomed Ankalaev is a force to be reckoned with and has proved it with his 19-1-1 MMA and 10-1-1 UFC record. Many people expected his next fight to be a shot at reigning 205-pound champ Alex Pereira. However, that did not happen and Ankalaev was booked against Aleksandar Rakic for UFC 308. Despite the surprise booking, Ankalaev definitely wants the title shot but Rakic wants to crash the party and desires the title shot for himself instead. However, the UFC CEO has a condition that can change the game for the Russian Light Heavyweight fighter.

According to the boss, Ankalaev will get his title shot if he wins in substantial fashion and Ankalaev said the same during UFC 308 media day.  Even Championship Rounds uploaded the latest news on Instagram stating, “Magomed Ankalaev reveals that Dana White told him that his fight with Aleksandar Rakic must be a “good fight” in order for him to get a title shot against Alex Pereira.” The picture of the duo included Ankalaev’s quotes where he said, “I was told by Dana that [my fight] has to be a good fight, I have to show myself well. Then I’ll get a title shot.”

While speaking to a reporter from MMA Junkie, White said “(Ankalaev) wasn’t skipped over – he’s got a fight coming up. We were laying the fights out. Now Ankalaev’s got a fight lined up – “Go in there, do your thing, look great, obviously, you’re next.”  The 32-year-old has to prove himself first in order to get his wish of fighting against ‘Poatan.’

When White was a guest on Kevin Iole’s YouTube podcast and asked about Ankalaev’s title opportunities. He had stated the same verdict saying, “At the time we made the Khalil Rountree fight, Ankalaev already had a fight. Listen, Ankalaev is ranked number 2. He goes out and puts on an unbelievable performance, and if Alex Pereira is still the champion, then he’s next.” 

This demand could have much to do with the lack of finishes in UFC fights recently. If Ankalaev decides to wrestle Pereira in a potential title match, he could just win the fight by grappling the whole five rounds. The fight would probably get tagged ‘boring’ and the UFC would lose out on arguably their biggest active star and champion. Ankalaev had to resort to a similar tactic the last time he fought for a UFC title.

Ankalaev once fought for the title before, against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 282. The fight ended in a split draw, much to the chagrin of Dana White and everyone involved. The Polish star’s leg kicks forced Ankalaev to resort to wrestling heavy tactics in the later rounds, slowing down the pace of the fight, but earning him a 10-8 round in the process. Surely that’s not what fans want to see when Alex Pereira is fighting. But there’s one more thing.

The light heavyweight title kept changing hands ever since Jon Jones vacated it. Every champion since then has had to vacate due to injury or lost the title before registering a single successful defense. That was until Alex Pereira took over the division at UFC 295. So, the promotion has all the more reason to “protect” Alex Pereira from Ankalaev, as some fans and critics have been claiming.

Regardless, Ankalaev was not too happy with UFC’s decision of pitting him against Rakic and denying him a title shot. He even expressed the same previously and took a stand.

Magomed Ankalaev had expressed his distaste for UFC’s decision

Ankalaev is coming off a victory against  Johnny Walker at UFC Fight Night but he still has to prove himself more to the boss. The Russian was resentful about the information of the UFC 308 clash and took to his X account to share his sentiments. Ankalaev clearly has a mission and issued a warning to his opponents. He 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 going to fight me from now, going forward.” He is clearly not ready to let anyone stand in his way of getting the title shot.

However his opponent ‘Rocket’ is ready to steal this opportunity for the title shot and even revealed the same to MMA Junkie. He said that he was happy to get the fight UFC gave him against the No. 2-ranked Ankalaev and he immediately said yes to the opportunity when it arrived. Then Rakic continued, ” You know why? Because I think I put a good show at UFC 300 against Jiri Prochazka, and that’s the reason they chose me to fight Ankalaev.” However, he did not dismiss his opponent’s prowess and said that Ankalaev was going to enter the octagon with a well-rounded game.

‘Rocket’ also mentioned that he had done all the homework on the Russian star and was ready for whatever the latter brought to the table- in this case the Octagon canvas. Who do you think is going to win the bout since both the fighters are determined for a title shot? Tell us in the comments below.