Is he gonna challenge Walker? Ankalaev won an important game thanks to an injury, but didn’t entertain the fans too much

It could have been an important fight that would have decided the first challenger to the champion Jiri Prochazka. But he wants a different opponent for his first defence. Magomed Ankalaev, however, is looking for a title shot with a string of wins. Will he get it?

UFC boss Dana White announced before Jiri Prochazka’s fight with Glover Teixeira that the next welterweight title challenger will be the winner of Magomed Ankalaev vs. Anthony Smith.

Ankalaev was the favorite in the fight and he proved his role. He was the better fighter in the first round, as confirmed by the scorecards. By all judges he won it by 10::9. He then went into the second round with a big advantage. Smith seriously injured his leg and tried to take the fight to the ground at all costs.

However, health problems did not allow him to continue the fight for long. The second round was the last of the fight. Ankalaev scored a TKO win with hard punches on the ground.

Ankalaev admitted that this was a very important win for him. Quite surprisingly, he didn’t mention Prochazka in his post fight interview. He currently holds a streak of nine wins in a row.

When Procházka defeated Teixeira, Ankalaev was among those who commented on the match most often. He was clear on social media about the title fight. As did Jan Blachowicz.

However, Prochazka wants a rematch with Teixeira and White likes the idea. The question is whether Ankalaev’s performance convinced him enough to not prioritize a rematch over a chance for the Dagestani.

Source: UFC