The man who took UFC champ Magomed Ankalaev’s undefeated record returns this weekend.
Dagestan’s light heavyweight king is one of the more dominant champions we’ve had in recent memory. Unbeaten in his last 14 fights, Magomed Ankalaev captured the UFC title at UFC 313 with a striking showcase against Alex Pereira.
Ankalaev went without a single takedown and outlanded the kickboxing legend across five rounds in March, already offering a rematch with Pereira at UFC 317 on June 28th.
In a nearly spotless 24-fight career, only one fighter can say they hold a win over Ankalaev and that’s Scotland’s Paul Craig.
Paul Craig tapped out Magomed Ankalaev in his UFC debut with 1 second left on the clock
Seven years before he crossed paths with ‘Poatan’, a 9-0 Ankalaev made his UFC debut at UFC London on Mar. 17, 2018. He was 25 years old at the time, going up against an older Craig who had just been finished in back-to-back fights.
Craig wasn’t the best fighter by any means. The crafty submission artist nicknamed ‘Bearjew’ started his UFC career at a rocky 3-4 record with all four of his losses coming by knockout.
But still, Craig went three rounds with a skilled Ankalaev and while he may have lost most of their fight, he was never out of it.
Pinning Craig to the ground in round 3, Ankalaev looked like he was en route to a decision victory before the impossible happened. With 10 seconds left to go in the fight, Craig threw up his legs around the neck of Ankalaev and went all-in on a triangle choke submission.
Squeezing with everything he had, Ankalaev quickly tapped out to Craig right before the final buzzer sounded. The official time of Craig’s submission was recorded at 4:59 with one second left on the clock.
Paul Craig looks to rebound as he did against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Vegas 106
Unfortunately, Craig didn’t go on a crazy title run after giving the future champ his first and only loss.
The Scottish fighter lost his next bout by submission and exchanged wins, losses, and even a draw against former UFC Champion Mauricio Rua in 2019.
Craig eventually got some momentum with a six-fight unbeaten streak that saw him submit another future champ in Jamahal Hill.
At 37, Craig is currently on the worst losing streak of his career. He’s lost to Brendan Allen, Caio Borralho and Bo Nickal at middleweight.
Now, Craig returns to the light heavyweight division where he will face off against Rodolfo Bellato at UFC Vegas 106 this Saturday at the UFC Apex. The UFC veteran is gunning for his first win in two years.