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Magomed Ankalaev is steadily working his way towards building an unprecedented win streak in the UFC light heavyweight division. With eight wins on the trot, Ankalaev has now tied former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida for the second-longest streak in the division.
Ankalaev is now only topped on the list by Jon Jones, who is unlikely to ever compete in the light heavyweight division again. During his career as a light heavyweight in the UFC, Jones went on an incredible 13-fight win streak. The 29-year-old must pick up five more wins in a row to replace Jones.
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In his latest scrap, the Dagestani fighter headlined the recently concluded UFC Vegas 50 event against Brazilian knockout artist Thiago Santos. After going five rounds with the Brazilian, Ankalaev came away with a comfortable unanimous decision victory. The three judges scoring the fight 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47 in favor of the Russian.
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Despite being wary of the knockout power Santos possesses, Ankalaev chose to stand and trade strikes with him for most of the fight and even ended up outstriking 'Marreta'.
He also displayed his grappling prowess, securing one takedown in the fight and achieving an impressive total control time of three minutes and thirty-five seconds.
Magomed Ankalaev feels he deserves a title shot next
Following his win over Santos, Ankalaev feels he is now worthy of fighting for the title next. Although he would love to challenge for the title, Ankalaev realizes that it's ultimately up to the UFC to decide what's next for him. Whatever be the next challenge, the Dagestani fighter is ready for it.
During the customary post-fight ocatgon interview at UFC Vegas 50, Ankalaev, speaking through his translator, said:
"I feel that I deserve a title fight but, of course, it will depend on the UFC who my next opponent will be, but I feel that I deserve a title fight."
Check out Magomed Ankalaev's post-fight ocatgon interview below:
Reigning champion Glover Teixeira is currently scheduled to defend the light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka next. It will be interesting to see if Magomed Ankalaev is matched against the winner of that fight.
