{"id":4683,"date":"2024-10-27T07:46:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-27T06:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/?p=4683"},"modified":"2024-10-27T11:17:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T10:17:16","slug":"magomed-ankalaev-wins-by-unanimous-decision-eyes-title-shot-against-alex-pereira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/magomed-ankalaev-wins-by-unanimous-decision-eyes-title-shot-against-alex-pereira\/","title":{"rendered":"Magomed Ankalaev Wins by Unanimous Decision, Eyes Title Shot Against Alex Pereira"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In the main event of UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, Magomed Ankalaev faced Alexander Rakic, aiming for a win that would bring him closer to a light heavyweight title shot against Alex Pereira. With a unanimous decision victory, the Russian fighter took a crucial step toward a possible title fight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>A Roadmap to Gold<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ankalaev, who has consistently showcased strong performances, has long sought to capture the attention of UFC President Dana White for a title shot. Following his win over Johnny Walker in January, facing Rakic was a crucial stepping stone in pursuing this goal. Though Rakic had recently suffered a loss to Jiri Prochazka, he remained a cautious opponent, slowing Ankalaev\u2019s momentum toward his title dream.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Round-by-Round Recap<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Round 1:<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">The fight began with both fighters trading strikes cautiously. Rakic attempted a high kick, followed by a quick hook from Ankalaev. Although the Russian didn&#8217;t go for grappling, he maintained psychological pressure on his opponent and stayed away from ground combat this round.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Round 2:<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">Though they traded combinations, neither fighter managed decisive strikes. Ankalaev capitalized on an opening, landing a solid combination on Rakic. The latter responded aggressively, trying to dominate in the middle of the round, but Ankalaev quickly countered with a sharp backhand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Round 3:<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">Rakic came forward with pressure but struggled to land significant shots. Ankalaev maintained his calm, delivering precise strikes. Towards the end of the round, Rakic tried a single-leg technique but failed, allowing Ankalaev to press him against the cage and control him until the bell.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"rtl\">Ankalaev secures a unanimous decision victory and guarantees a title fight opportunity against Alex Pereira.<\/p>\n<p>\u0623\u0646\u0643\u0627\u0644\u0627\u064a\u0641 \u064a\u062d\u0642\u0642 \u0627\u0646\u062a\u0635\u0627\u0631\u064b\u0627 \u0628\u0642\u0631\u0627\u0631 \u0625\u062c\u0645\u0627\u0639\u064a \u0648\u064a\u0624\u0645\u0646 \u0641\u0631\u0635\u0629 \u0645\u0648\u0627\u062c\u0647\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0642\u0628 \u0623\u0645\u0627\u0645 \u0623\u0644\u064a\u0643\u0633 \u0628\u064a\u0631\u064a\u0631\u0627. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z98L7KIXyF\">pic.twitter.com\/Z98L7KIXyF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; mmamag.ma (@jamalsoussi10) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamalsoussi10\/status\/1850480756226654642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>One Last Step to the Title<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">With this decisive win, Magomed Ankalaev now boasts an impressive record of 20 wins and only one loss, raising expectations for a title fight against Alex Pereira. In his post-fight interview, Ankalaev sent a direct message to his potential opponent: \u201cPereira, stop running.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_10665\"  width=\"696\" height=\"391\"  data-origwidth=\"696\" data-origheight=\"391\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-F8ZPFzscbg?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the main event of UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, Magomed Ankalaev faced Alexander Rakic, aiming for a win that would bring him closer to a light heavyweight title shot against Alex Pereira. With a unanimous decision victory, the Russian fighter took a crucial step toward a possible title fight. A Roadmap to Gold Ankalaev, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,86,21,91],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"category-mma-video","9":"category-ufc-news","10":"category-ufc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4683"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4683"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4687,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4683\/revisions\/4687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}