A title eliminator that tested everyone’s patience
Magomed Ankalaev needed all five rounds and most of the crowd’s goodwill to get through Bogdan Guskov on Saturday. The former light heavyweight champion closed the UFC Fight Night card in Abu Dhabi with a ground-and-pound stoppage at 2:41 of the fifth, capping a fight the Etihad Arena crowd booed through much of its middle rounds.
The win was Ankalaev’s 13th inside the Octagon, the most of any active light heavyweight. It moved his record to 22-2-1 with one no-contest and, more to the point, positioned him as the clear next challenger at 205 pounds.
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Slow burn, sudden finish
The first 15 minutes offered little. Ankalaev leaned on the clinch and a few knees while Guskov, who landed just 45 strikes all night, waited for an opening that never really came. The champion-in-waiting changed the math in the fourth, taking Guskov down, reaching full mount and threatening a rear-naked choke.
Guskov almost stole it early in the fifth with a head-and-arm choke, but Ankalaev slipped free, took the back and closed the show with a barrage once he regained top position. “I want to say thank you to Bogdan for coming in here and saving the fight,” Ankalaev said afterward.
A champion watching from cageside
Reigning champion Carlos Ulberg sat cageside while recovering from a torn ACL, and the matchup with Ankalaev now writes itself once he is cleared. The card also lifted Ramazan Temirov to a 12th straight win with a first-round knockout of Steve Erceg, while Valter Walker tied Demian Maia’s modern UFC mark with a fifth consecutive submission.
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