It may seem strange to some, but I honestly think the best thing that has happened to Ankalaev in the last 18 months is that he had to struggle through a few tough fights.
When the Russian light heavyweight was racking up the finishes to start what is now an eight-fight winning streak, it looked like he might be sped up in pursuit of the championship. While he’s skilled enough to have acquitted himself well, wins over Marcin Prachnio, Dalcha Lungiambula, and Ion Cutelaba aren’t exactly the kind of dynamic challenges you’re looking for from potential title challengers.
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But in his last three fights, Ankalaev has tactically and methodically picked up victories over Nikita Krylov, Volkan Oezdemir and Thiago Santos – a Top 15 matchup and two former title contenders – setting up this weekend’s showdown with Anthony Smith. at UFC 277.
He used the full 55 minutes allotted to him during these contests (the Santos fight was a five-round main event) to better understand what it feels like to be there with a legitimate contender and get closer to to win. this designation himself, and now feels ready to take that next step to another dangerous pairing on Saturday.
Ankalaev has all the tools – huge wrestling and grappling skills, a diverse kicking arsenal, good size and conditioning – and just needed time to figure out how best to deploy all those weapons at inside the Octagon. His rise resembles that of Islam Makhachev in that the advantage was obvious from the jump, but when they would pull it all together and become the title threats everyone envisioned was unknown.
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Makhachev has gotten there over the past year and changed, and will fight for the lightweight title in October. If Ankalaev were to extend his winning streak to nine by edging out a third straight former title challenger, he would be on his way to joining his countryman in contention for UFC gold.
Matthew Semelsberger