Magomed Ankalaev has been criticised for being ‘hurting the UFC’ ahead of his title defence against Alex Pereira.
Ankalaev, who claimed the belt in their first meeting back at UFC 313, will look to make a statement in his first title defence when he faces ‘Poatan’ in an immediate rematch at UFC 320.
The Russian surprised many fans with how thoroughly he handled Pereira in their first fight, controlling the action over five rounds.
Even after taking a tough loss to Ankalaev previously, the Brazilian appears to have already decided on his next opponent following Saturday’s card.
UFC legend thinks Magomed Ankalaev’s presence is a negative for the UFC
During his time holding the light heavyweight belt, Pereira was not just known for his success in the cage. His calm, composed presence helped him become one of the sport’s most recognisable faces.
But after Ankalaev took the title with a clear win, he did not inherit any of that profile or recognition from ‘Poatan’.
In fact, Din Thomas even suggested earlier this year that the UFC should consider trading the Russian to PFL in exchange for Dakota Ditcheva.
Ankalaev did not let those comments slide. He responded by posting an old photo of the UFC analyst being knocked out during his fighting days.
Even so, Brendan Schaub showed support for Thomas. He doubled down on the idea that Ankalaev’s presence is not helping the UFC.
“The UFC business model now would make more money of Dakota than with Magomed.
“A matter of fact, Magomed is actually hurting the UFC, it’s f—– up to say because if he goes out and beats Alex who’s a much bigger star than him, it actually hurts the UFC.
“A pretty girl who is very talented who’s a 500 fighter, we can get more money out of than this guy from Dagestan who’s a beast but isn’t good on the mic, his s— talking is a little dicey, and he’s also so good that the stars you want to be the face of the UFC, he beats. That’s an issue,” he stated on his YouTube channel.
Dakota Ditcheva will not be in the UFC any time soon despite calls to sign her
There has been growing support from fans and analysts alike for ‘Dangerous’ Ditcheva to make the jump to the UFC, but that move does not seem likely in the near future.
Following another strong performance in July, Ditcheva announced she had signed a new deal with PFL, extending her stay for at least a few more years.