Magomed Ankalaev has only suffered one loss throughout his career in MMA, but he thinks it could’ve been one of the worst in history.
This coming Saturday, Magomed Ankalaev makes the first defense of his light heavyweight title when he rematches Alex Pereira in the UFC 320 main event at the T-Mobile Arena.
The Russian pulled off the shock win when they first met earlier this year in the UFC 313 main event, and much to everyone’s surprise, Ankalaev out-struck Pereira for five rounds.
And throughout his career in the sport, the 33-year-old has looked relatively flawless, and there has only been one occasion when he has come unstuck.
Ankalaev labels his lone UFC loss the worst in history
Before losing to Ankalaev, ‘Poatan’ was widely regarded as the biggest star in combat sports after running through anyone put in his way.
And despite having lost his title, the Brazilian could become the first fighter in modern history to become a three-time UFC champion in two different weight classes, joining Randy Couture.
Ankalaev on the other hand has only lost one fight throughout his 23 fight MMA career, and that came back in 2018 in his UFC debut.
After his impressive run on the regional scene, ‘Big Ank’ was offered his first UFC fight against Paul Craig. And after dominating the Scottish fighter for the majority of the fight, he was shockingly submitted with just one second left on the clock.
Reflecting on his lone loss ahead of his first title defense, Ankalaev has claimed that it could be the worst loss in UFC history because of the fact that he self admittedly ‘gave up’.
“I used to be worried about losing and what people say about me,” Ankalaev said in an interview with the UFC.
“That doesn’t happen anymore. You can say that I had the worst loss in the UFC, I gave up in literally the final moments of a fight, people were saying good and bad things.
“The way I see it – I don’t do something to benefit someone else, I do it for myself, my close ones, those who believe in me… That loss changed my life. It was hard for me at first, I didn’t come out in public for a month.
“I thought I wouldn’t fight anymore, then within that month, I realized that it wasn’t because of me. I did everything I could, it was the will of the Almighty,” he continued.
Ankalaev teases huge career change following UFC 320
As is commonplace in the UFC these days, if all things go well for the Russian on Saturday night, he is already considering a potential move in weight.
Outside of Pereira, the only other standout contender to challenge for the title is Carlos Ulberg, who picked up an impressive win at UFC Perth last Saturday.
First, though, Ankalaev must replicate his first performance against ‘Poatan’ and potentially defend the title against Ulberg before he can consider attempting to become a double champion.