Magomed Ankalaev is losing patience with the light heavyweight top five.
The former UFC champion at 205 pounds bounced back from the brutal end to his short title reign a few months ago.
After Ankalaev was knocked out by Alex Pereira in their immediate rematch just over a year ago, the Russian fighter returned this past July and knocked out Bogdan Guskov.
While he had hoped to stay active and build on that momentum, a struggle to find an opponent now has Ankalaev contemplating competing in a different division entirely.
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Magomed Ankalaev could follow in Alex Pereira’s footsteps amid his struggle to secure a fight at light heavyweight
Ankalaev occupies the No. 2 spot in the Meta UFC light heavyweight rankings after his triumph over Guskov.
The only man above him is Pereira, who left the division this year and is currently gearing up for his second fight as a heavyweight.
With Jiri Prochazka set to face Navajo Stirling at UFC Qatar this month, Dominick Reyes, Paulo Costa, and Khalil Rountree Jr. are the only fighters inside the top seven who are not booked.
In a recent post on social media, Ankalaev explained why all three are no-gos, meaning he is targeting contenders in the division above to avoid a long layoff.
“Looks like nobody in the top five at light heavyweight wants to fight,” Ankalaev wrote on X.
“Everybody’s got a reason. Khalil Rountree (is) not ready, Reyes just fought and is injured. Costa wants $10 million.
“So what about heavyweight? Anybody ready to fight? Let’s do it in January,” he added.
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Ankalaev has previously teased following Pereira up to heavyweight, stating he would be open to finishing their trilogy in the weight class after splitting their series 1-1 at 205 pounds.
Interestingly, the most recent UFC main event saw a man Ankalaev violently knocked out, Johnny Walker, defeating top 10 heavyweight contender Waldo Cortes-Acosta to make it back-to-back wins since he moved up.
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