The main card for UFC 308 included a pivotal light heavyweight matchup between top-ranked contenders Magomed Ankalaev and Aleksandar Rakić.
Light heavyweight has once again become one of the UFC’s marquee weight classes with the recent success of Alex Pereira, and at UFC 308 two of the division’s top names met in the Octagon to try and stake their claim on a title shot.
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Ankalaev narrowly missed out on winning the light heavyweight title at UFC 282 when he fought to a draw with Jan Błachowicz, but after stopping Johnny Walker in a UFC Fight Night main event earlier this year the 32-year-old traveled to Abu Dhabi looking to finally secure a matchup with Pereira.
Rakić entered the night on the first two-fight skid of his career after meetings with two former champions in Błachowicz and Jiří Procházka, and “Rocket” found himself lined as a sizeable underdog when he stepped into the cage with Ankalaev.
Both men were content to trade strikes on the feet for the duration of the first round, and although Rakić found considerable success with his leg kicks it was Ankalaev that largely controlled the pace of the action.
Ankalaev’s increasing confidence allowed him to diversify his striking attacks as the fight went on, and although “Rocket” continued punishing his opponent’s legs throughout the second and third rounds it wasn’t enough for him to avoid losing a unanimous decision.
Now riding the momentum of back-to-back wins and unbeaten dating back to 2018, Ankalaev was quick to call for a matchup with Pereira during his post-fight interview.
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The light heavyweight bout followed Shara Magomedov’s highlight-reel knockout and Lerone Murphy’s gritty win over Dan Ige, all of which featured as part of a stacked UFC 308 main card leading up to the main event between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.
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