‘Boring’ Magomed Ankalaev Faces Backlash: Fans Call to Skip His Fights Despite Winning at UFC 308

Magomed Ankalaev could beat Kratos in a fistfight but he’s curiously never beating the ‘boring’ allegations.

The #1 light heavyweight contender took on Aleksandar Rakić in a title eliminator fight with the promise to put on a show for the fans in exchange for a title fight against Alex Pereira. 

Ankalaev has been on the road to a title shot since the first atom split open but the UFC keeps matching him against anyone but the champion.

So after months of ‘annoying’ Pereira with callouts and accusations of ducking him, the UFC allegedly offered the Russian fighter an audition- beat Rakic and make it entertaining. After all, there’s a pay-per-view to sell!

The fight started well with both Ankalaev and Rakic using kicks low and high in the first round as their preferred weapon of choice. Punches were thrown sparsely.

The second round was a lot better for Anakalev who came out swinging like he could almost see the light at the end of a very long tunnel.

He came forward often, swerved, and circled around Rakic to create angles so he could land big shots. Unfortunately, a not a lot of them were on target, and the ones that were, didn’t cause much damage. 

Rakic held his own and made sure the fight stayed on the feet. More of the same continued in the third round with the Russian landing shots effectively and often. 

This forced Rakic to attempt a few takedowns which were then successfully stuffed by the title contender. Ultimately it was Ankalaev who took the win scoring 29-28 on all three judges’ scorecards. However…

Ankalaev wins fight, loses fans

Fans remain unimpressed by Ankalaev’s performance. Despite having won the fight, the Russian failed to make it a spectacle as had been promised. So, he might have won the night but as far as his audition for the Pereira fight is concerned, it might be a while before he gets a call back from the casting director. 

Fans also offered their judgments on his performance as one of them claimed, “I don’t want to see Ankalaev fight anyone ever again in my life“.

Another fan had a harsher assessment of his performance saying, “Ankalaev not doing himself any favors with that performance. He’s the only guy left in the division, but his fights would cure insomnia“.

This fan roped UFC President Dana White into the conversation by sharing the ‘Shaq sleeping meme’ and commented on the boss’s state of mind- “Dana White watching another boring Ankalaev fight “. 

Despite these comments, it seems like Ankalaev is well on his way to try and ensure Pereira has a considerably mellow year in 2025 compared to what he has had in 2024.

‘Stop running from me’- Ankalaev catching up to Poatan

Following his win, the light heavyweight fighter claimed that Rakic was an extremely odd fighter to face as he did not strike himself, and neither did he let Ankalaev strike either. So despite his best efforts, Ankalev couldn’t bag a finish. 

Many weeks ago, the Russian fighter had asked Pereira to fight with the promise that he would stand up and strike with him for all five rounds. That might be a bad decision in hindsight now that the fallacy of that idea has been exposed.

Khalil Rountree Jr. employed similar tactics against the light heavyweight champion and was made to look like someone went through the meat grinder. But Rountree had a fight against Pereira for the title and that’s all Ankalaev wants anyway.

Since he has now proved that he can stand and deal with ‘Poatan’ without even trying to double-leg him, Anakalev has asked Pereira to stop running.

The #1 title contender also stated that this is a fight everyone wants to see and therefore Pereira should oblige as a champion. 

Pereira has definitely been acting dodgy by not accepting a call-out for the fight but it seems that freeway has finally hit a wall. This fight is happening, whether or not Poatan likes the idea of it at this point has become obsolete with Ankalev’s win.