If it have been as much as Magomed Ankalaev, with one other win over Alex Pereira, his subsequent opponent will probably be Carlos Ulberg – not Jiri Prochazka or Khalil Rountree.
The UFC gentle heavyweight champion faces Pereira for the second time this Saturday in the primary occasion of UFC 320. Additionally competing on the identical card is former champ Jiri Prochazka and up to date title challenger Khalil Rountree in a high-stakes divisional matchup that might decide the subsequent challenger.
Nevertheless, Ulberg is coming off a spectacular first-round knockout win over Dominick Reyes in the primary occasion of UFC Perth every week in the past. Ought to Ankalaev retain, permitting a contemporary challenger makes extra sense to the division’s high fighter.
“You already know, the blokes which are preventing on the identical card as I’m, Rountree and Prochazka, I’m probably not all in favour of them anymore,” Ankalaev advised MMA Combating by means of a translator. “They’re yesterday’s information. They’ve been punished already by the previous champ, the man that I’m preventing now, the man that I beat.
“So I’m not particularly all in favour of, let’s say, the older guys, the older technology. However this new man, the Ulberg man you’re speaking about, I imply, he’s attention-grabbing. He’s on an attention-grabbing streak. He’s been unbeaten for a short while, and I believe if the UFC needs to cease him, what they’ll do is that they’ll give him a battle in opposition to me so he’ll lastly face defeat.”
Ankalaev is unbeaten in his previous 13 fights and has taken pictures on social media for each Prochazka and Rountree.
Following his win over Reyes, Ulberg stated he hopes Ankalaev defeats Pereira for the second time in order that he can tackle the streaking titleholder. If that’s the case, that’s simply superb by Ankalaev, however in the end, he’s an organization man and can do regardless of the promotion prefers.
“In the event that they wish to make a star out of him, in the event that they wish to carry on pushing him ahead, carry on making him an enormous deal within the UFC, they’ll,” Ankalaev stated. “However ultimately he’s going to must face me, and that’s going to be, almost definitely, a cease to that large rise.”
“However I’ve stated it earlier than, I’ll say it once more: I’m not selecting my opponents. No matter [the] UFC decides, that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll see what occurs.”
