Magomed Ankalaev’s manager recently shared his thoughts on what could be next for Ankalaev. The Russian fighter who dethroned Alex Pereira at UFC 313 earlier this year to become the UFC light heavyweight kingpin lost his crown in the title rematch at UFC 320, with ‘Poatan’ securing a first-round knockout victory.
After that fight, Ankalaev claimed that he fought the Brazilian with a rib injury, and as a result he lost in just 80 seconds.
On the other hand, after becoming a two-time UFC light heavyweight kingpin, Pereira now wants to move up and fight Jon Jones. ‘Poatan’ has his places of interest as the first three-division UFC champion.
In a recent interview with MMAArena, Rizvan Magomedov opined that Ankalaev should fight Jiri Prochazka next. Prochazka has fallen twice against ‘Poatan’. However, after scoring back-to-back wins against Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr. in 2025, he called Pereira up for a third fight.
With ‘Poatan’ not inclined to fight Prochazka again, Magomedov believes a fight between the two former champions would push Ankalaev towards another title shot. He said:
“As we’ve seen, Alex doesn’t seem keen on fighting Magomed for a third time, but we’ll push for it. Magomed needs one fight in between, for example against Jiri. That would be a great stepping stone for the next title contender.”
Check out the comments below:
When Jiri Prochazka called Alex Pereira for the trilogy fight
After brutally knocking out Jamahal Hill at UFC 311 and returning to winning ways, Jiri Prochazka called up Alex Pereira for a third fight. During the octagon interview, he said:
“I thought this fight was more important than any fight I have fought, so I am very happy with this performance… F*** man, I want a third fight with Alex Pereira.”
Watch Jiri Prochazka’s comments below (2:10):
Notably, Prochazka is undefeated in non-title UFC fights and has only suffered two losses in the promotion, against ‘Poatan’.
#Magomed #Ankalaevs #manager #Jiri #Prochazka #fight #UFC #Gold