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Magomed Ankalaev returns to the cage on Saturday, July 25th to headline a UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi against Bogdan Guskov. We haven’t seen or heard much from Ankalaev since he lost his light heavyweight title to Alex Pereira, dropping his record to 1-1 against his bitter rival.
It’s unclear how much of that rivalry is actually generated by Ankalaev and how much is just”Big Ank,” the disrespectful personality on X (formerly Twitter) that many believe is actually the work of Ankalaev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz. During this week’s media day, Ankalaev explained why he was a man of few words in real life.
“How are people going to know what I am or what I have inside?” Ankalaev said. “I’m a professional fighter, I like to keep my emotions inside. And if there’s no crossing of a specific line, then I come out here and I come out as a professional. But if somebody crosses that line or kind of toes the line, then I’m sure I can show my character as well. Other than that, I like to keep my emotions in, my head cool, and go and do my job.”
Ankalaev recently said he’d be willing to chase Pereira up to heavyweight for a third fight, a comment that “Poatan” seemed to dismiss by commenting “Are you even still alive over there?”
“Alex Pereira must have been sleeping for a long time because I believe he was put to sleep pretty hard,” Ankalaev said, referring to Pereira’s recent knockout loss at the hands of Ciryl Gane. “If you can pass him a message, tell him I’m alive and well, and I’m waiting to see what he can show.”
As for Ankalaev’s one-sided loss to Pereira during their second fight, the Dagestani fighters says he’s used it as fuel to prepare for the Guskov fight.
“A defeat affects different fighters different ways,” Ankalaev said. “I think a defeat for me was beneficial because it got me more motivated, it got me training harder, it gave me a reason to come back and to show that I belong here. I think it’s going to be a good fight, and I’m excited to show what I worked on.”
The loss to Pereira snapped a 14-fight unbeaten streak for Ankalaev, so it will be interesting to see how the former light heavyweight champion returns and how careful or aggressive he is against Guskov, whose four wins in the UFC all come via early finish.
UFC Abu Dhabi goes down on Saturday July 25th with prelims starting at 9 a.m. ET/ 6 a.m. PT and the main card at 12 p.m. ET/ 9 a.m. PT.
