UFC light-heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev is all set to fight his first title match at UFC 282. It was a long road for him to get to the title shot, but it has now all paid off nicely. He is going to fight former light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. The duo will fight for the vacant light-heavyweight title as Jiri Prochazka vacated his title after suffering from a gruesome shoulder injury.
Magomed Ankalaev will be entering this fight as the favorite against Jan Blachowicz. He is on a nine-fight winning streak with five of those wins coming via way of stoppage. He has won over guys like Thiago Santos, Anthony Smith, Volkan Oezdemir, Nikita Krylov, and Ion Cutelaba. Now Magomed is keen to make this title shot opportunity count as he takes on the legendary Polish Power this weekend at UFC 282.
Magomed has shown in his past fights that he has a mixture of both striking and wrestling. He is a sambo master, just like a few other Russian fighters in the UFC. Interestingly enough, Ankalaev also hails from Dagestan just like the former Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Is Magomed Ankalaev related to Khabib Nurmagomedov?
Magomed Ankalaev hails from Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia. Though he is from the same region as former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, the pair shares no relation. Tho they belong to the same part of Russia, and barring that similarity, they are nowhere close.
Khabib has one real brother who is not associated with MMA. But he has some cousins who are actively participating in the sport of MMA. Guys like Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Umar Nurmagomedov fight in the UFC are related to Khabib. Another cousin of Khabib, Usman Nurmagomedov, is the current Bellator lightweight champion.
Who is Magomed Ankalaev’s coach?
UFC light-heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev is trained by Sukhrab Magomedov, who is his head coach, along with Shamil Alibatyrov. He trains out of Fight Club Akhmat, which is located in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia.
In one of his recent interviews, he talked about his training regime and where he trains when he is in the United States. He stated that he trains at Xtreme Couture MMA gym whenever he is in the USA.
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“Xtreme Couture has its own coaches, including freestyle wrestling and grappling. We trained wrestling and grappling there, and the rest of the time I did individual work with Suhrab [Magomedov],” Magomed Ankalaev said to Telecom Asia Sport.
Now ahead of his title fight at UFC 282, Ankalaev seems pretty confident in his skill set. He is sure that he will get the job done against Jan Blachowicz. Even though Jan Blachowicz is the former light-heavyweight champion, Magomed Ankalaev feels that his all-round game will be formidable for Jan. If he wins the title on Saturday night, he will join Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov in list of fighters from Dagestan to hold the UFC gold.
