“They are all the same.” Ankalaev about Walker, Volkov’s help and meeting with Khilkevich

Everyone (absolutely everyone) who fought with Magomed Ankalaev calls him an incredibly gifted fighter. Magomed Ankalaev himself collected all the sad accidents that can only happen in modern MMA: a defeat at the last second, an unnecessary rematch with the fighter Kutselaba due to a referee’s error, a draw in a fight that the Russian accepted due to injury, and now a banned blow to the head of Johnny Walker. Ankalaev suffered a knee to the head during a tournament in Abu Dhabi in October 2023, and now they are fighting again. At the same time, Walker is a huge and very strong light heavyweight, very difficult to defeat.

In an interview:

“You and I spoke in Abu Dhabi after the fight, and I didn’t ask the most obvious question: Can you explain why you kneed Johnny Walker in the head?”

– Do you think I did that on purpose? .. It was an accidental blow, I didn’t intend to hit a forbidden blow. I controlled him, pinned him against the net, and at one point I decided to let him get up so I could hit him with my knee. But it turned out that I let him get up, but he didn’t get up. And at that moment it hit me. And he remained on his knees.

— Did you feel that the blow was not so violent that he could not continue fighting?

“He was in good health, he spoke, he understood everything. There was no such blow to break up the fight.

— He posted a video where you can see that you met in the UFC hall in Las Vegas and talked about something. What was this conversation about?

– It’s a secret.

— Usually they try to separate the opponents according to the time spent in the room.

– Yes, they also asked us about training times, but that day I came early. And yet, at the entrance, they asked me: “Is your opponent there, is everything okay?” I said I had no problem with that.

-Did you shake hands?

– Of course, they shook him. Nothing personal.

— You once said that it was difficult to get angry and that even on the road to Dagestan you could give in. Do you remember the last affair that could have ended in conflict?

– No, I don’t remember having a conflict with someone on the street for a long time. It’s even hard to say what a person should do to get me out.

— Some fighters say that in the cage, after recovering from the weigh-in, the opponent can surprise you with his size. Are you surprised by Johnny Walker with his height of 195 cm?

– No, I wasn’t surprised. This is my division. They are all the same.

—When did you realize you would definitely get a rematch?

“I had no doubt that there would be a rematch right away, since there is no other choice, the winner of our fight must fight for the title, and it would not be possible to turn a blind eye to this. I’m glad they got back at us, we’ll close the issue.

— You returned from Abu Dhabi to Dagestan at the end of October and almost immediately flew to America, it turns out?

— We have been in the USA for about a month and a half, yes.

— You have trained on both coasts at two popular gyms. Where did you prefer: American Top Team in Florida or Las Vegas, where several rooms are usually combined?

– I am here [в Вегасе] I like it better. But in “Top Team”, there are a lot of sparring partners, a lot of guys, it’s more interesting there at that level. And here I have my own atmosphere, I know all the coaches and sparring partners.

— Johnny Walker is one of the greatest light heavyweights in the UFC, who was your sparring partner?

– There was no specific person with whom I stood the most, but I spent my last sparring with Alexander Volkov (No. 6 in the heavyweight ranking, 201 cm – ), for whom I I am grateful to him, he helped me a lot.

—Have you already spoken?

— We met at tournaments, but we weren’t in constant contact.

— Is it awkward to work with him?

– Yes. The first fight was very difficult for me to find the distance, but then it became a little easier.

“Did he give you any advice on how to fight a man his size?”

– Yes, I gave advice and shared. What he knew, he said. During the last sparrings, working with him was very useful to me.

— After the tournament in Abu Dhabi, actress Anna Khilkevich received the news that she unexpectedly named you among the fighters to whom she wished good luck. Do you remember this moment?

— To be honest, I don’t remember it well. I only remember that when we entered [в октагон], there was a Russian girl who wished me good luck. I don’t remember it anymore.

— Do you watch television series?

— I like the Turkish series about Osman “Resurrected Ertugrul”. Turkish TV series are interesting, but I rarely watch them.

– How much do you weigh now, a few days before the weigh-in?

– Now I weigh a hundred kilos, but I haven’t started running yet, now I’m sitting on the water, I think everything will be fine.

-Who will be in your corner?

— Sukhrab Magomedov and Shamil Alibatyrov.

— The UFC organization returned the flags. Do you imagine that you will take a photo with the Russian tricolor after the fight, like you did before?

— If you have the chance, of course, why not take a photo with the Russian flag, it’s my country.

Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.