In the immediate aftermath of the split draw in the UFC 282
headliner, it sounded as though Magomed
Ankalaev was contemplating a future outside the Las Vegas-based
promotion.
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Ankalaev’s clash with Jan
Blachowicz for the vacant light heavyweight title was ruled a
majority draw after five rounds at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
on Saturday night. Derek Cleary scored the contest 48-46 for
Ankalaev, Michael Bell had it 48-47 Blachowciz and Sal D’Amato had
it 47-47. Meanwhile, the vast majority of media members tracked by
MMADecisions.com thought Ankalaev won the fight.
“I don’t know what to say,” Ankalaev told Joe Rogan in the Octagon
through a translator. “I won that fight. Why didn’t I get my belt?
I don’t know what to say. … I can’t choose the judges for the fight
that are sitting over here, but I won this fight. I won this belt.
Where is my belt?
Ankalaev then seemed to imply that the judges’ verdict might cause
him to consider leaving the UFC altogether.
“I always do whatever I have to do to adjust,” Ankalaev said. “If
I’m losing in the standup, I’ll go down to grappling and wrestling;
if I’m losing the wrestling, I’ll stand up. I can do both things,
but I don’t know if I’m going to fight for this organization again,
because honestly, I don’t know what just happened.”
The Dagestani light heavyweight later clarified those remarks in a
statement on Twitter, claiming it was the judging in Las Vegas, not
the organization, that upset him the most.
“I wanna clear something up, what I said after the fight was I
don’t want to fight in this city anymore because of the horrible
judging,” he wrote. “I did not say anything about I don’t wanna
fight in the UFC. I wanna thank [Dana White] and [Sean Shelby] for
the opportunity.
Ankalaev added that wasn’t at 100 percent against Blachowicz.
“I fought my heart out today, there is no excuse, but I had a
compromised knee,” he wrote. “It wasn’t my best performance, but I
know I won the fight. Thank you [Dana White] and the [UFC} for
giving me this opportunity.”
I wanna clear something up, what I said
after the fight was I don’t want to fight in this city anymore
because of the horrible judging, I did not say anything about I
don’t wanna fight in the UFC.I wanna thank @danawhite
and @Mickmaynard2
for the opportunity— Magomed Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM)
December 11, 2022
I fought my heart out today, there is no
excuse, but I had a compromised knee, it wasn’t my best
performance, but I know I won the fight. Thank you @danawhite
and the @ufc for giving
me this opportunity— Magomed Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM)
December 11, 2022
Ankalaev is unbeaten in his last 10 Octagon appearances, but the
UFC is not booking a championship rematch between he and
Blachowicz. Instead, Glover
Teixeira and Jamahal
Hill will square off for the still-vacant belt at UFC 283 on
Jan. 21.