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- Magomed Ankalaev furthered his reputation as a fearsome light heavyweight when he battered Ion Cutelaba on Fight Island.
- At UFC 254 on Saturday, the 28-year-old dropped his opponent with a heavy right hand and hit him seven times from top position.
- The sixth shot in the merciless sequence separated Cutelaba from his senses. The referee had to intervene when Ankalaev landed a seventh for good measure.
- Magomed Ankalaev is a bad, bad man.
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FIGHT ISLAND — Magomed Ankalaev knocked his UFC opponent down and then hit him seven more times when he was on the ground.
A 28-year-old from Dagestan, Ankalaev is developing a formidable reputation as a fearsome competitor in the 205-pound weight class.
Though he lost his UFC debut in 2018, a triangle choke submission defeat to Paul Craig, Ankalaev has since rebounded with venom by beating his next four opponents — three of those by knockout.
And it was his most recent knockout win, struck at UFC 254 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, which is perhaps the scariest of his entire career.
Ankalaev had the fight pretty much finished when he sent a heavy right hand over the top, landing so heavily on Cutelaba’s jaw that the Romanian could only crumple to the floor in a heap.
But then Ankalaev pounced with a load of hammer fists, seemingly separated Cutelaba from his senses with a sixth shot in the merciless sequence, and then the referee had to removed him from his opponent after he landed a seventh brutal shot from the top.
It was a particularly violent ending to the light heavyweight match on Fight Island.
And you can watch it here:
—Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) October 24, 2020
Before the bout, Ankalaev was ranked the No.11 contender to Jan Blachowicz's UFC title.
He said after the win that those ranked above him in the weight class will be looking over their shoulder with him fast approaching.
"I wanted to catch him, I wanted to finish with a counter and I finished with a counter. I think everybody in my division was watching this fight," Ankalaev said. "I'm going after the top fighters, so I hope they're waiting for me."
On what he wants next, Ankalaev added: "I'd love to fight a top-five fighter, but it would be interesting, and I would prefer to fight Shogun Rua or Anthony Smith, but other than that, anyone in the top five.
"I'm just happy that I can sleep well right now. I'm going to probably rest about two, three weeks and hopefully get a top five opponent."
With the win, Ankalaev advanced his win to 13 wins (nine knockouts and five decisions) against one loss.
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