If he’s to earn another opportunity at collecting gold, Magomed Ankalaev must add another win to his unbeaten run at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
Ankalaev (18-1-1, 1 NC), who currently occupies the #2 spot at 205 pounds, was widely tipped to be next in line for reigning champion Alex Pereira following the Brazilian’s emphatic defense of his title opposite Jiří Procházka late last month.
But despite his social media campaigning, the Dagestani will need to make it 13 fights without defeat if he’s to book a long-awaited showdown with “Poatan.”
That was announced on Saturday by UFC CEO Dana White, who revealed a number of major matchups for this year’s Abu Dhabi-held pay-per-view on October 26. Among them is a key light heavyweight battle between Ankalaev and the #5-ranked Aleksandar Rakić (14-4).
With White’s recent announcement, the current fights expected to take place at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi on October 26 are as follows:
- Ilia Topuria (C) vs. Max Holloway (featherweight championship main event)
- Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev (middleweight co-main event)
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakić (light heavyweight)
- Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige (featherweight)
- Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov (heavyweight)
- Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev (welterweight)
- Marcos Rogério de Lima vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (heavyweight)
