Magomed Ankalaev last appeared in the legendary Octagon last month at UFC 320 at T-Mobile Arena in Enterprise, NV. His opponent that first Saturday evening in October was Alex Pereira. At stake: the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Chapter two of the story ended on the sourest notes for Magomed Ankalaev. Although the first bout resulted in Ankalaev winning by decision, the renewal of hostilities saw “Poatan” win gold in the 205-pound division.
One minute and twenty seconds was all Ankalaev needed to surrender light heavyweight supremacy to the former GLORY Kickboxing great. The October 4 loss to Alex Pereira dropped Ankalaev’s overall record in MMA to 21-2-1, with a 12-2-1 record under the UFC promotional banner.
Ali Abdelaziz reveals extent of Magomed Ankalaev’s training camp injury Submission radio
If you were watching the UFC 320 pay-per-view broadcast ESPN+ a month ago in the United States, Daniel Cormier, who worked as an analyst on the show, referred to reports that indicate this that Magomed Ankalaev suffered broken ribs during training camp for the title fight. On the latest edition of Submission Radio, The former titleholder’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, discussed his client’s injury.
“[Magomed] Ankalaev did not train for this fight for almost forty days,” Ali Abdelaziz began in the interview. “He came from Dagestan with bruised ribs and he sparred three times. Every time we had to stop sparring.”
Abdelaziz also said that the UFC was aware of Magomed Ankalaev’s condition the entire time leading up to the Oct. 4 bout.
“All he did for 40 days was run, jump rope, hit mittens and do conditioning,” he said. “He hardly did any sparring. He did zero wrestling, zero grappling. I hope so.” [that] The UFC will appreciate what he has done for them to keep the main event going and I think, honestly, he is one fight away from a title.”
Abdelaziz begged Magomed Ankalaev to postpone the fight on October 4
While Magomed Ankalaev was certainly a noble fighter in pushing through last month’s match despite his injury, Ali Abdelaziz tried to talk him out of entering the Enterprise cage.
“I begged him not to fight, but he didn’t listen to me,” he recalled in the interview. “I begged him. Listen, we win together and we lose together, but sometimes when it takes you so many years to become a champion, the UFC isn’t going to do you any favors here.”
Give Magomed Ankalaev credit for his fight, but also face the facts
When it gets to the point where a fighter’s manager has to make him consider not fighting for a championship due to injuries sustained in training camp, and said injuries limit the fighter’s training regimen leading up to the bout, then that should be enough to make him or her think twice about fighting.
“My training camp was hampered by injuries,” the fighter will think. “If this causes more damage, it is not worth fighting on the scheduled date.”
As previously mentioned, Magomed Ankalaev showed courage in his willingness to fight Alex Pereira on the night of October 4. However, the facts are there.
Coming into the bout at UFC 320, Pereira’s game plan was simple: target Ankalaev’s treated ribs to score a knockout. This plan of attack was executed perfectly for Alex Pereira, who finished the fight in less than half a round.
Ali Abdelaziz acted in Magomed Ankalaev’s best interests when he entered UFC 320, just as any manager should do when dealing with an injured fighter.
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