UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev did not hold back while reflecting on one fight during his rise to the title.
Ankalaev is gearing up for his return to action at UFC 320 in Las Vegas, as the 205-pound king defends his newly won belt for the very first time.
After Ankalaev defeated Alex Pereira at UFC 313 to begin a new era at light heavyweight, the Dagestani is now tasked with repeating the feat against the Brazilian fan favorite in their immediate rematch on October 4.
The champ has been largely dismissive of Pereira and his talents ever since they shared the cage this past March, but their fight was fairly competitive across five rounds. The same, however, cannot be said for the matchup that Ankalaev called his “easiest” to date.
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Magomed Ankalaev named his domination of Anthony Smith as his ‘easiest’ UFC fight
Ankalaev’s first title shot came in 2022, when he and ex-champ Jan Blachowicz fought to a draw in the UFC 282 main event. The Russian earned that opportunity courtesy of a nine-fight winning run that culminated in a dominant performance against a former title challenger.
Amanda Nunes’ one-sided win over Julianna Pena in their rematch was not the only lopsided fight at UFC 277 in the summer of 2022. In the main card opener, Ankalaev tore through Anthony Smith with relative ease.
According to the then-future champ, the victory did not take much game-planning. While firing shots at ‘Lionheart’ on social media, Ankalaev said all it took was a ‘video game combination’ from his childhood to get the better of Smith.
“@ChaelSonnen you are right my friend, my toughest fight in the division is Rakic, my easiest fight ever was Anthony Smith, I hit him with a combination from a video game I used to play when I was 12.”
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Alex Pereira insists Magomed Ankalaev is not his toughest opponent as UFC 320 rematch looms
Ankalaev is the only man to have defeated Pereira in the UFC at 205 pounds, and many are tipping the Dagestani’s style to pose a puzzle that ‘Poatan’ can’t crack once again in their rematch.
Despite his difficulty this past March, however, Pereira doesn’t see beating Ankalaev as his hardest challenge in MMA to date.
“I’ve definitely fought tougher opponents,” Pereira told The Schmo. “The situation itself on that day (UFC 313), the circumstances, made him a hard opponent.
“But I’ve definitely fought people way harder than him,” he concluded.