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Magomed Ankalaev sees two realistic scenarios after UFC Fight Night 282.
Former champion Ankalaev (21-2-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) dominated Bogdan Guskov (18-3-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) to score the Round 5 TKO in Saturday's main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Paulo Costa was quick to react by promising to save the division from the "monotony and boredom."
UFC light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg (14-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) is targeting a return early next year, and acknowledges Ankalaev as a top title contender. But if Ulberg needs more time, Ankalaev welcomes a fight with Costa (16-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC).
"I'm already the No. 1 contender, but as we know in this division right now our champion is hurt," Ankalaev said during the UFC Fight Night 282 post-fight news conference. "We don't know when he's going to come back, so if he's going to take a long time to come back, I would like to stay active.
"I believe I saw that Paulo Costa wrote something my direction. I'm not sure what he was trying to say. Was he trying to bother me? Was he trying to get my attention? So if the champion is indeed going to be out for a little while, then potentially maybe we could have a good fight with Costa – unless he's going to be running away."
The octagon returns to Abu Dhabi for UFC 333 on Oct. 24. Ankalaev has fought in Abu Dhabi five times before in his UFC career, and is more than willing to fight Costa there later in the year.
"Obviously, if Paulo Costa wants to do it, if the UFC is saying that that's a possibility, I would happily be the one to fight here in Abu Dhabi in October," Ankalaev said. "I always want to show exciting fights. I always want to show fun fights for the fans. But it seems as though a lot of the people, when they see me in front of them, they start to run away, and I have to be the one trying to find them and hunt them. Sometimes the fight doesn't turn out the way I want, so if Paulo Costa is going to stand in front of me and wants to stand and bang, we can definitely bang it out here in Abu Dhabi."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Magomed Ankalaev welcomes scrap with Costa – unless he'll be 'running away'
Continue reading...
Former champion Ankalaev (21-2-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) dominated Bogdan Guskov (18-3-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) to score the Round 5 TKO in Saturday's main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Paulo Costa was quick to react by promising to save the division from the "monotony and boredom."
UFC light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg (14-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) is targeting a return early next year, and acknowledges Ankalaev as a top title contender. But if Ulberg needs more time, Ankalaev welcomes a fight with Costa (16-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC).
"I'm already the No. 1 contender, but as we know in this division right now our champion is hurt," Ankalaev said during the UFC Fight Night 282 post-fight news conference. "We don't know when he's going to come back, so if he's going to take a long time to come back, I would like to stay active.
"I believe I saw that Paulo Costa wrote something my direction. I'm not sure what he was trying to say. Was he trying to bother me? Was he trying to get my attention? So if the champion is indeed going to be out for a little while, then potentially maybe we could have a good fight with Costa – unless he's going to be running away."
The octagon returns to Abu Dhabi for UFC 333 on Oct. 24. Ankalaev has fought in Abu Dhabi five times before in his UFC career, and is more than willing to fight Costa there later in the year.
"Obviously, if Paulo Costa wants to do it, if the UFC is saying that that's a possibility, I would happily be the one to fight here in Abu Dhabi in October," Ankalaev said. "I always want to show exciting fights. I always want to show fun fights for the fans. But it seems as though a lot of the people, when they see me in front of them, they start to run away, and I have to be the one trying to find them and hunt them. Sometimes the fight doesn't turn out the way I want, so if Paulo Costa is going to stand in front of me and wants to stand and bang, we can definitely bang it out here in Abu Dhabi."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Magomed Ankalaev welcomes scrap with Costa – unless he'll be 'running away'
Continue reading...
