Magomed Ankalaev is an excellent fighter.
On paper, he has everything one would look for in an elite champion. A world champion in Combat Sambo, Ankalaev first joined the UFC known for his top-shelf wrestling and vicious ground-and-pound. Then, he started head kicking people left and right as he climbed up the ranks. By the time he made it to title contention, Ankalaev’s boxing was among the best in the division, punctuated by a thudding right hook and quality defense.
In a weak division like Light
Heavyweight, Ankalaev clearly has the skills to be the best. On paper, he should have an extended championship reign with multiple title defenses. He was already world-class by the age of 28 back in 2020, yet he didn’t actually pick up his first UFC title victory until last year versus Alex Pereira … a win that was quickly erased by a “Poatan” KO seven months later in just 80 seconds.
Unfortunately, last night’s putrid main event versus Bogdan Guskov demonstrated exactly why Ankalaev has been so underwhelming.
Let me be clear: Guskov was terrible and deserves a lion’s share of the blame for the fight being so boring. The fearsome knockout artist absolutely refused to engage, running around in hopes that Ankalaev would walk onto a right hand (his only real weapon). Ankalaev is too smart to do so, of course, something Guskov and his corner should have picked up on after the first round.
Nevertheless, Ankalaev had the tools to smash Guskov — a limited and flawed fighter — from the first bell. Instead, he felt no real pressure to do anything beyond kick at him, because Ankalaev was winning rounds. He didn’t increase his offense until round four, when Ankalaev turned to his wrestling and effortlessly floored Guskov. Having stumbled upon this new (and very obvious) path to success, Ankalaev was still painfully patient in advancing position and doing damage.
The end result was a fifth-round stoppage of an exhausted fighter that impressed nobody.
Despite hardly taking a shot, Ankalaev’s flaws were on display here. He really struggles to increase the intensity and build on his success. Ankalaev could see all of Guskov’s offense coming from early in the fight, and that’s the point where elite fighters typically feel comfortable opening up and doing real damage. Ankalaev, conversely, was content to let the fight putter along and refused to push his advantage.
Ankalaev’s strategy has to be questioned as well. Guskov’s ground game and gas tank are known weaknesses, and it still took Ankalaev until the championship rounds to shoot for a real takedown? Despite Guskov planting his back to the fence the entire fight? Ankalaev could have taken down his foe in round one and cut the total fight time in half if he bothered to capitalize on Guskov’s clear liabilities.
Ankalaev seemingly doesn’t have the ability to turn up the heat or make the most of his skills. That lack of Fight IQ and intensity has kept him from the level of greatness his skills seem to otherwise guarantee, and it routinely produces uninteresting fights like the UFC Abu Dhabi main event.
Perhaps Din Thomas was right about trading “Big Ank” to the PFL.
For complete UFC Abu Dhabi results and play-by-play, click here.
