{"id":370681,"date":"2026-07-23T11:22:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=370681"},"modified":"2026-07-23T11:22:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:52:54","slug":"magomed-ankalaev-risks-embarrassment-by-dismissing-ufc-abu-dhabi-essential-event-as-a-tuneup-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/magomed-ankalaev-risks-embarrassment-by-dismissing-ufc-abu-dhabi-essential-event-as-a-tuneup-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Magomed Ankalaev risks embarrassment by dismissing UFC Abu Dhabi essential event as a ‘tuneup’ fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Follow us on Google Discover<\/span> <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Magomed Ankalaev will hope his fight week comments don\u2019t come back to haunt him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The previous UFC light heavyweight champion can be returning for the primary time since being brutally knocked out by Alex Pereira nine months ago.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Poatan\u2019 exacted his revenge just seven months after Ankalaev won the title at UFC 313 by handing the Brazilian his one and only loss at 205 kilos.<\/p>\n

The Dagestani fighter is trying to get back on the horse in Saturday\u2019s UFC Abu Dhabi essential event, and he sounds incredibly confident about doing so.<\/p>\n

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Will Magomed Ankalaev ever hold UFC gold again? \ud83d\udc51<\/h3>\n

The UFC Abu Dhabi headliner was light heavyweight champion for just 7 months \ud83d\ude33<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Magomed<\/div>
Credit: Ian Maule\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Magomed Ankalaev downplays Bogdan Guskov\u2019s threat in late-notice UFC Abu Dhabi matchup<\/h2>\n

Ankalaev was initially set to face one other victim of Pereira\u2019s power in ex-title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. But after \u2018The War Horse\u2019 withdrew because of an injury, Bogdan Guskov stepped in to fight Ankalaev on lower than 10 days\u2019 notice.<\/p>\n

The Hungarian has won 4 of his last five fights. His most up-to-date outing was a majority draw against former champion Jan Blachowicz.<\/p>\n

The No. 10-ranked contender memorably put Nikita Krylov out cold 12 months ago, but Ankalaev has zero concerns about falling to the identical fate.<\/p>\n

He went up to now as to call the essential event against Guskov a \u201ctuneup\u201d during a recent interview with MMA Junkie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is only a fight to be back,\u201d Ankalaev said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a tuneup, if you ought to call it. I get it with Bogdan, so to talk, because he’s No. (9), so for him to get this kind of opportunity, it\u2019s definitely life-changing. It\u2019s an enormous deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gonna attempt to take my number and this and that, nevertheless it\u2019s gonna be really tough for him to leap out similar to that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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Ankalaev will enter the cage at Abu Dhabi\u2019s Etihad Arena because the sizable favorite.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless it is protected to say that 2026 has already seen way more shocking upsets than a victory for Guskov could be on July 25.<\/p>\n

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Follow us on Google Discover Magomed Ankalaev will hope his fight week comments don\u2019t come back to haunt him. The previous UFC light heavyweight champion can be returning for the primary time since being brutally knocked out by Alex Pereira nine months ago. \u2018Poatan\u2019 exacted his revenge just seven months after Ankalaev won the title […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":370682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[13095,21167,13096,14697,17535,613,1253,21166,5422,3074,18113,3928],"class_list":["post-370681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-abu","tag-ankalaev","tag-dhabi","tag-dismissing","tag-embarrassment","tag-event","tag-fight","tag-magomed","tag-main","tag-risks","tag-tuneup","tag-ufc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t