Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Broken Ribs and Zero Prep – Magomed Ankalaev Manager Revealed the Reason for UFC 320 Loss

Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

On October 4, T-Mobile Arena, 80 seconds was all it took for Alex Pereira to erase seven months of Magomed Ankalaev reign. Poatan swarmed the champ, dropped him with a right hook, then rained elbows straight into the body until the official waived it off at 1:20 of Round 1. Ankalaev, who had outwrestled and outstruck Pereira to win the belt at UFC 313 in March, looked slow, stiff, and one punch behind from the opening bell.

The arena erupted after the loss, the fans on the internet called it the upset of the year, and now the latest reports suggests that Ankalaev wasn’t really ready to take on Poatan. What happened? Let’s find out.

Magomed Ankalaev Was Not 100% Percent Going Into the UFC 320

Ali Abdelaziz, Ankalaev’s manager, didn’t sugarcoat it on Submission Radio. “Ankalaev did not train for almost 40 days,” the manager revealed. “He came from Dagestan with messed-up ribs. He sparred three times, every single time we had to stop because he couldn’t breath. UFC knew about it. He was getting injections, cortisone, stem cells – everything.”

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Ankalaev Was Determined to Fight Despite the Pain

Abdelaziz in fact begged his fighter to pull out but Ankalaev refused. So why take the fight when you’re the champ? Years of chasing gold, one phone call from the UFC, and pride overruled pain, is exactly why Ankalaev did not back off.

“The only thing he did for 40 days was run, jump rope, hit mitts, and do conditioning. He barely did any sparring. He did zero wrestling, zero grappling. And, you know, I hope the UFC will appreciate what de done for them to keep the main event going on.”

“I was begging him not fight, but he did not listen to me,” Abdelaziz said. “Begged him.”

Whether it was the injury or not, that chapter is closed. So what’s next? A rematch trilogy or fresh blood? Either way, we believe that Ankalaev is far from being done, and the comeback chapter has just opened for him, to potentially retake the belt later on.

Alex Pereira

Magomed Anakalev

UFC

UFC 320

Eric Divakaran

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