At the end of June, at the UFC 303 tournament, the reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira crushed Jiri Prochazka, knocking him out in the second round. After that, there was only one legitimate contender for the belt in the weight category up to 93 kg – Magomed Ankalaev.
The Russian is ranked second, the only one in the top 5 right now who is coming off a win. And it is logical that Magomed immediately challenged the Brazilian. And he did everything right: he dropped the “let’s fight in Abu Dhabi” rhetoric and tried to set up a possible fight.
“Guys, believe me, I will knock out Alex, I don’t need to fight him to do this, he has a weak jaw. But at the same time I know that he is very dangerous. All these guys in the top 5 were knocked out. I am the best light heavyweight on the planet, none of these guys are at my level and now I am going to fight the champion. I think he is not as afraid of me as the others. Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, New York, Las Vegas, it doesn’t matter. Anywhere and anytime I will win by knockout. Get ready, Alex! – said Ankalaev.
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However, a few days ago, manager Rizvan Magomedov announced that Magomed would soon have a fight, but not with the champion: “We are waiting for the fight between Ankalaev and Pereira in early 2025. It is around this time that this fight should take place. I agree that Ankalaev should no longer fight in any fight other than the title fight. But the organization now has other plans for Alex Pereira. Therefore, in order not to stagnate, we are taking on another battle.”
The other fight is a meeting with Serbian-Austrian kicker Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. A very balanced fighter, with well-placed punches and good wrestling. Rakic has a problem that he is number five (Ankalaev, remember, is second) in the light heavyweight division rankings and is on a two-fight losing streak. Both with nuances, but still. In May 2022, Aleksandar lost to Jan Blachowicz due to a knee injury, missed two years due to his recovery, and after returning he lost by TKO to Jiri Prochazka at UFC 300. There, Rakic explained this by saying that he quickly became exhausted due to a staph infection.
Aleksandar Rakic
Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Aleksandar’s record in the UFC is 6-3. For him, the fight with Ankalaev is a real chance to get into the title race. And it doesn’t mean that the opportunity is deserved. After two losses, it was more logical to face Rakic, for example, with Khalil Rountree, who rose to the top 10, or in a rematch with Volkan Oezdemir. But Ankalaev is given, in fact, a lottery ticket to the top 2. It’s not a fact that Rakic will cash this ticket, but still. In general, Magomed is stronger than his opponent. Aleksandar is an excellent kicker, he can score points. Ankalaev, despite his boring image outside the octagon, often looks very powerful in fights and is able to deal with Rakic both on the stands and in attack. So far, the designs on paper look exactly like this.
As for Pereira and the UFC’s mysterious plans for the Brazilian, there are two options: a heavyweight fight with Tom Aspinall or a potential rematch with Israel Adesanya if he can defeat Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305. And Alex simply has no contenders in the light heavyweight division.
Pereira also has his eye on boxing:
“This has always been my dream.” Another UFC champion prepares to “escape” to boxing
Ankalaev can only do one thing: destroy Rakic and once again, but publicly, challenge Pereira. Sooner or later it will be simply unrealistic to ignore Magomed and ride him with the title. Now he is as close to this as possible. But, apparently, the UFC needs Ankalaev to re-confirm his status as the main contender and main threat to the champion of this division on October 26.
