It was now or by no means for Magomed Ankalaev.
Emanating from T-Cellular Enviornment, Ankalaev will lastly get a crack at reigning gentle heavyweight champion Alex Pereira when the 2 headline this Saturday’s UFC 313 pay-per-view in Las Vegas.
It’s been greater than three years because the final time he had an opportunity to take residence a UFC title. Working his manner again to the highest of the division with wins over Johnny Walker and Aleksandar Rakić in his final two outings, Ankalaev knew that if alternative knocked once more, he’d should reply.
In consequence, the 32-year-old Dagestani fighter will likely be preventing in the course of Ramadan — a call he didn’t take frivolously.
“Clearly, it’s not a great factor to combat throughout Ramadan,” Ankalaev informed MMAMania.com. “That is the holiest of holy months for us. That is the month once we spend extra time in a mosque, we pray extra, we reward the lord extra. However this is a chance we couldn’t let go of as a result of if we didn’t take this combat, we wouldn’t know the subsequent time this chance would occur. So, clearly, it’s not ultimate, however that is the kind of alternative we’ve got to take now.”
Will observing Ramadan affect Magomed Ankalaev’s means to make weight?
For these unfamiliar, Ramadan is the holiest month of the yr for Muslims. In response to the Islamic Community Group, “Muslims commemorate the revelation of the Qur’an, and quick from food and drinks through the sunlit hours as a method of drawing nearer to God and cultivating self-control, gratitude, and compassion for these much less lucky.”
Ramadan runs from Feb 28, 2025, by means of Sat, Mar 29, 2025.
Whereas present UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has each skilled and fought throughout Ramadan, most Muslim fighters select to not compete because of the sacrifices it takes — notably when reducing weight. However regardless of the sacrifice, Ankalaev goes to do all the things he can to depart ‘Sin Metropolis’ as the brand new king of the 205-pound division.
In spite of everything, who is aware of when or if he’ll ever get this shot once more?
“A whole lot of feelings,” Ankalaev mentioned. “Ready is the worst factor you are able to do. You simply sit there and also you wait. Clearly there was a bit little bit of frustration occurring, however we’ve been asking for this and ready for this. It’s simply been a very long time, however now we lastly obtained this chance and that’s behind us. We’re going to do no matter we will to verify to get this victory.”
