Magomed Ankalaev has only been handed one career loss on his way to claiming undisputed UFC gold.
Magomed Ankalaev had to wait several years for his chance to finally fight for the UFC light heavyweight title but he was finally given that shot this past Saturday at UFC 313.
The 32-year-old Russian took the chance with both hands, successfully dethroning UFC star, Alex Pereira, after narrowly outpointing him over five rounds.
Immediately following the fight, Ankalaev criticised Pereira’s performance, claiming that he ‘ran away’ for 25 minutes, and the stats showed that Pereira alarmingly only landed 11 head strikes the entire fight.
Paul Craig reacts to Magomed Ankalaev’s UFC title win against Alex Pereira
Ankalaev had to wait longer than most for his opportunity to fight for a title, despite accumulating a 13-fight unbeaten streak.
The Russian’s only loss of his professional career came in 2018 in his UFC debut against Paul Craig. After dominating the Scottish fighter for all of 15 minutes, Ankalaev was caught in a submission at the very end of the fight, which resulted in a shocking tap and come from behind win for Craig.
Since then, their careers have gone in opposite directions as Craig has struggled to remain near the top, whereas Ankalaev has showcased his dominance over and over again.
Despite the Russian having gone on to win the UFC light heavyweight title, Craig has claimed that Ankalaev ‘hasn’t changed’ since their fight in 2018.
“Ankalaev, I thought looked very good,” Craig began to explain on his podcast, Leather’d.
“It was inevitable, I said this last week, I said Ankalaev (would win)… I thought it was a good fight, I know people are not happy with Ankalaev (being champion).
“I’ve beaten some names, man. Beating Ankalaev is only for one specific guy. What you’ve got to do is, let him think he’s winning… That victory is getting sweeter every single time this guy fights.
“I don’t think he’s a changed fighter since I fought him, I think he’s pretty much the same, I don’t think you look at him and think he’s got massively better,” Craig stated.
Magomed Ankalaev already in negotiations for a rematch with Pereira
Immediately after the fight, UFC boss, Dana White admitted that a rematch is ‘probably’ going to happen and Pereira vowed that he will make adjustments in the next fight.
Now just a few days removed from their clash, Ankalaev has revealed that he is already in negotiations for the rematch, with the promotion seemingly looking to get it done as soon as possible.
Now 37 years old, some fighters believe Pereira’s time at the top could have come to an end and that his lifestyle has caught up to him, however, he will undoubtedly be revelling at the opportunity to once again silence the doubters with his next outing.