The fighter who handed Magomed Ankalaev his only loss had to battle some serious adversity to get his hand raised.
Khabib Nurmagomedov claimed that Ankalaev is already one of the best Russian fighters of all time.
The current UFC light heavyweight champion has been one of the most consistent and dominant forces on the roster for some time.
In his return at UFC 320, Ankalaev will look to end his feud with Alex Pereira by beating the Brazilian star for a second consecutive time.
While the Russian has been beaten before, it took something truly special to take away his undefeated record.
Paul Craig recalls not being able to walk for two days after pulling off comeback win over Magomed Ankalaev
In his UFC debut in 2018, Magomed Ankalaev was submitted by Paul Craig in London with just one second left on the clock.
Craig, who recently announced his retirement, joined the latest episode of Tom Aspinall’s Fight Club on TNT Sports to break down the fights that will take place in Las Vegas this weekend.
The stats from the Scotsman’s clash with Ankalaev show just how one-sided the fight was before ‘Bearjew’ pulled off a historic triangle choke to save his UFC career.
| Paul Craig vs Magomed Ankalaev stats | Magomed Ankalaev | Paul Craig |
| Significant strikes | 59 of 96 | 18 of 50 |
| Total strikes | 89 of 129 | 34 of 70 |
| Takedowns | 0 of 0 | 2 of 7 |
| Control time | 6:43 | 1:47 |
Craig said after UFC 313 that he doesn’t believe that Ankalaev has changed much from the time that they fought to him becoming the light heavyweight champion.
That being said, as the former fighter revealed, that doesn’t mean that Alex Pereira’s task is any easier on Saturday night after what Craig had to battle through to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat.
“For almost 14 minutes, he imposed his will on me. He was very explosive, very strong, and I remember at one point, he picked me up in a wrestling takedown and he sat me down like a father laying down a baby.
“I had a hole in my jaw underneath my chin where he’d clocked me. He’d fractured ribs. He’d basically beaten me up and for the next two days, I couldn’t walk because he destroyed my legs and destroyed my arms.”
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Magomed Ankalaev is unbeaten in 14 fights since this setback
Paul Craig recalled in the breakdown how he knew very little about Magomed Ankalaev ahead of their fight, until the UFC commentators started to list off his accolades on the broadcast.
Fans really started to see what the Russian was capable of after this initial setback, with this loss still being the one and only defeat that he has suffered.
Ankalaev has gone on to be unbeaten in 14 consecutive fights since he was submitted with one second left on the clock.
| Magomed Ankalaev’s opponents after his debut loss | Event and date | Result |
| Alex Pereira | UFC 313 (2025) | Ankalaev via decision |
| Aleksandar Rakic | UFC 308 (2024) | Ankalaev via decision |
| Johnny Walker | UFC Vegas 84 (2024) | Ankalaev via KO – Round 2 |
| Johnny Walker | UFC 294 (2023) | No contest – illegal knee |
| Jan Blachowicz | UFC 282 (2022) | Split draw |
| Anthony Smith | UFC 277 (2022) | Ankalaev via TKO – Round 2 |
| Thiago Santos | UFC Vegas 50 (2022) | Ankalaev via decision |
| Volkan Oezdemir | UFC 267 (2021) | Ankalaev via decision |
| Nikita Krylov | UFC Vegas 20 (2021) | Ankalaev via decision |
| Ion Cutelaba | UFC 254 (2020) | Ankalaev via KO – Round 1 |
| Ion Cutelaba | UFC Fight Night: Norfolk (2020) | Ankalaev via TKO – Round 1 |
| Dalcha Lungiambula | UFC Fight Night: Moscow (2019) | Ankalaev via KO – Round 3 |
| Klidson Abreu | UFC Fight Night: Prague (2019) | Ankalaev via decision |
| Marcin Prachnio | UFC Fight Night: Moscow (2018) | Ankalaev via TKO – Round 1 |
This run of results led to many fans believing that it was a matter of when rather than if he would become the champion.