UNCONSCIOUS!@AnkalaevM
erased all doubt by finishing Ion Cutelaba at
#UFC254 pic.twitter.com/nn4eCMA1Oz— ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
October 24, 2020
Magomed
Ankalaev left no doubt in his rematch with Ion
Cutelaba at
UFC 254.
Their initial meeting, a 38-second TKO triumph for Ankalaev at UFC
Fight Night 169 in February, ended in controversy when Cutelaba
claimed the contest was stopped prematurely. However, there was no
such controversy on Saturday, as Anaklaev floored his opponent
twice en route to a knockout victory at the 4:19 mark of Round 1 at
the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi.
A counter left hook late in the frame sent Cutelaba tumbling to the
canvas, and Ankaleav pounced for the victory with heavy
ground-and-pound from above.
“I feel great, now I can finally sleep well. It was a six month
camp, so I did a really, really good job in the six months and
today I proved it,” Ankaleav said. “I wanted to catch him, I wanted
to finish with a counter and I finished with a counter. I think
everybody in my division was watching this fight. I’m going after
the top fighters, so I hope they’re waiting for me.”
The 28-year-old Dagestani now owns the longest active winning
streak in the light heayweight division with five. With that
success comes big ambition, and Ankalaev has his sights set on more
high-profile opposition for his next Octagon appearance.
I’d love to fight a Top 5 fighter, but it would be interesting, and
I would prefer to fight ‘Shogun’ Rua or Anthony Smith, but other
than that, anyone in the Top 5,” Ankalaev said. “I’m just happy
that I can sleep well right now. I’m going to probably rest about
two, three weeks and hopefully get a top five opponent.”