Magomed Ankalaev’s trainer, Sukhrab Magomedov, is a very quick 40-year-old who cleverly hides his age behind an impressive beard. Having met Ankalaev in the status of an ordinary “village strong guy”, engaged in Greco-Roman wrestling, Magomedov made him one of the most invulnerable light heavyweights on the planet. Now Ankalaev has 17 UFC wins, one loss, one draw and second place in the division standings up to 93kg. In December 2022, he could have become champion, but he fought a tough fight against Jan Blachowicz and ended the fight in a draw.
The belt remained vacant and after 40 days it was contested by another pair of contenders: Glover Teixeira and Jamal Hill. The latter won with confidence and turned out to be one of the most unexpected champions of 2023. Hill certainly has all the data, but with the departure of Jon Jones, the 93 kg category has stabilized very strongly among the contenders, and Hill didn’t seem to be among the best of them. Ankalaev’s coach formulates it even more harshly.
– You posted a post on social media, where the photo shows UFC light heavyweight champion Jamal Hill in really bad shape. Where did you find this photo?
— And I took a screenshot of the video — Merab [Двалишвили] posted on the page.
– Were you surprised that the champion looked like this: with a funny face and a visible belly?
‘No, he’s always been so shapeless. I don’t consider him a champion, his organization just let him down [к бою за титул].
– Some fighters don’t deny that in the off season they’re out of shape, they can eat extra pounds and you get shots like Hill’s. Is it hard to imagine Magomed in such a state?
– No, he was never like that, he was always in good shape. When he was fighting amateurs, he always weighed 92-93 kg, now he has gained a little, but out of season he (weighed) 105-106 kg …
How will their fight with Hill go if they fight?
– My purely personal opinion (because I know how he works in training): if Magomed shows up in the ring, he can do two fights in one night, he will beat both Hill and Blachowicz in one night. Easily.
– How does Magomed perceive Hill?
“I don’t see him as a champion, and he doesn’t see him as such. Just an abandoned man, I don’t know why. Yes, he “dropped” people, he is still a drummer. Winning against someone serious – well, I don’t know. He is certainly not a rival of Magomed.
“What went wrong in the fight between Magomed and Blachowicz?”
– Either he didn’t finish it somewhere, or he started working late. I don’t know why he held back. There, you just had to work ahead of the curve to beat Blachowicz. He is slow, he has nothing. Why Magomed was waiting and what was on his mind – I can’t say.
– When will Ankalaev be able to fight next?
– With words they say that in October in Abu Dhabi. But here, anything can happen. At first we had a conversation about Walker being an opponent and then he was replaced by someone else. I can’t even imagine who the opponent will be.
– In the category up to 93 kg, the fighters are now very equal. In your opinion, who is the most interesting opponent for Magomed?
Blachowicz is interesting. Strong, with a hard blow. Rakic is good, he just hasn’t fought in a long time. Walker – with his incomprehensible technique. Also this guy picks up momentum, which we already fought
“Krylov?”
– Yes. He has good technique, there is a feeling in the rack. He doesn’t take many hits or misses in the process. Yes, and his wrestling is not bad, the grappling is good, he scored normally. In recent years, he has started to fight well.
– What does Magomed do now, what does his training look like?
– He trains in Makhachkala: he struggles, swings. We just had talks that they would fight in July, but we didn’t fly anymore. I think they won’t give a fight for July. Now maybe October.
Do you both have a US visa?
– Yes. I have until 2024 and it is also open. There is no problem with the visa.
– With whom does he have the most interesting sparring?
– Good with Gadzhimurad Antigulov, with Ali Isaev. Now Alan Makitov has come to us.
– He now has 0 wins by tricks in 19 professional fights, and he does them in training?
– He has good grappling, good freestyle wrestling. When we prepare, he stands alongside the European champions in freestyle wrestling and is in no way inferior to them. In bodybuilding, it’s even worse.
– But did he do at least one technique in training with you?
It happened a few times, but not often. He likes working in the rack more.
– Do you regret that Jon Jones went to heavyweight and, probably, their fight with Magomed will not happen?
“I still wonder, who knows what will happen next. I always wanted him to come back and Maga to fight him.
– How can Magomed Ankalaev be dangerous for John Jones?
– Magomed can strike well. His wrestling is at a good level, he fights with world jiu-jitsu champions.
– By the way, Nikita Krylov just told me that with Jones you can try to pick up the pace, because he works rather slowly.
– At high speed, yes. We would start with him carefully from the counter and then we would see, maybe really high speed. The most important thing is to have confidence in yourself.
– He came to you after Greco-Roman wrestling, but how did he learn to kick with his feet?
– Works a lot. In fact, we work a lot. We work. He came as an ordinary, physically strong rural guy and slowly began to study. How much is with us now? 11 years old. Worker. And at one point we had a fighting troika, three champions in three organizations: Gadzhimurad Antigulov in DIA, Rashid Yusupov in M-1 and Magomed in Akhmat league. And they worked together, they didn’t back down. And so they grew.
Broadcasts of the Mixed Martial Arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
