Magomed Ankalaev Religion: All We Know About the UFC Star’s Ethnicity & Origins

Magomed Ankalaev has been impressing the world of mixed martial arts with back-to-back victories in the Octagon. Even though he was running on an 8-fight win streak before debuting into UFC, his first fight against Paul Craig at UFC Fight Night 127 was an unfortunate defeat via a triangle choke. But that didn’t stop him from conquering the Octagon. Ankalaev has won 10 of his previous fights with 1 no-contest and 1 draw. This summed up his professional MMA record at an impressive 18-1-1.

This record and his wrestling-heavy fighting style have often intrigued the fight fans to wonder about his origins. Today, let’s find out where Ankalaev’s roots lie and what religion he follows.

Is Magomed Ankalaev a Muslim?

Hailing from the land of Russia, Ankalaev is indeed a devout Muslim. He has seldom tried to hide his religious beliefs from the world and even shared verses from the Holy Quran on social media platforms. One such verse from the Islamic text read, “Cast what is in your right hand, and it will swallow up what they have made, for what they have made is no more than a magic trick. And magicians can never succeed wherever they go.”

Even when calling out his opponents, the Russian mixed martial artist reflects on the hand of Allah guiding and protecting him. Well, that’s exactly what he did when he called Alex Pereira out before the light heavyweight champion’s title defense at UFC 307. Ankalaev said, “This guy say I’m at level five I’m in this guy’s head. Please do not close Saturday. I promise you this voodoo stuff will not work with me.” He continued, “I pray five times a day. I am protected.”

In another instance, the head coach of the Russian national MMA team, Gennady Kapshay, revealed that no one from the team, including Ankalaev, trained during the Ramadan fast. “Many guys in our team are Muslims and observe the month of Ramadan. So we will not use them anywhere until the end of the fast,” the coach confirmed in an interview with sport-express.ru.

Ankalaev has kept his private life hidden from the world. However, it is well known that he often visits Dagestan to spend some quality time with his loved ones and devote himself to his faith. Now. let’s get to know a bit more about the light heavyweight fighter.

More about Magomed Ankalaev’s early life and background

Ankalaev was born to a Dagestani couple on June 2, 1992. He hails from a family of Avar descent, living in Makhachkala, Russia. It is indeed the same place that the UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev calls home. No wonder he found his way to the world of mixed martial arts at an early age, with a major focus on wrestling.

Talking to a TV channel called ‘BOX TV’, Ankalaev said, “I started training in childhood, like most of my friends, I was involved in freestyle wrestling for a long time. After finishing school, I entered the DGPU in Makhachkala and began to practice Greco-Roman wrestling. I also competed in combat sambo – successfully and won the title of Master of Sports of Russia. Thanks to all the accumulated experience, I have already begun to practice MMA closely.” 

The resilience that Ankalaev has shown on the practice mats, earned him the title of the Russian and world champion in amateur MMA, and then the best mixed martial artist of Russia in 2015, by the Russian MMA Federation. Now, he has his crosshairs on the UFC light heavyweight championship belt. 

Ankalaev is all set to land against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308. While the Russian fighter has repeatedly asked the MMA promotion for a fight against the man with the hands of stone, whether or not he’d get the bout will probably be revealed after his performance at UFC 308. After all, he is one of the few fighters who seemingly has the skill set to defeat the fearsome ‘Poatan’.

What are your expectations of Ankalaev’s upcoming bout? Do you think he can eventually get the title off of Pereira? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.