Magomed Ankalaev desires to combat for the UFC title once more, however he plans to settle it with a grudge match in opposition to Paulo Costa.
‘Borrachinha’ expressed his emotions about Saturday’s lackluster UFC Abu Dhabi essential occasion, the place Ankalaev gained a boring combat in opposition to Bogdan Guskov that resulted in 5 rounds. A lot of the headliner match, together with a less-than-climactic end, obtained a tepid reception from followers on the Etihad Enviornment, a sentiment echoed by Costa in scathing feedback on social media.
“By the ability of Almighty, I’ll rescue this class from monotony and tedium,” Costa wrote.
“I am already the primary contender, however as we all know on this division, our champion is at present injured,” Ankalaev mentioned by means of a Russian interpreter. “I do not know when he will come again. So if it takes some time for him to come back again, I wish to keep lively and I believe I noticed or heard one thing like Costa wrote one thing in my course. I do not know what he was making an attempt to say. I do not know if he was making an attempt to embarrass me or get my consideration. So if the champion is de facto going to be out for some time, probably we might have a very good match with Costa, so long as he is operating away. ”
Costa moved up from middleweight and not too long ago rocked the sunshine heavyweight rankings at UFC 327. The one-time title challenger made it clear that his objective is to finally win gold at 205 kilos with a powerful third-round KO over top-10 contender Azamat Murzakanov.
Throughout Saturday’s UFC Abu Dhabi broadcast, it was formally introduced that the promotion will return to Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24 at UFC 333, which could possibly be the perfect card for Ankalaev and Costa to settle their enterprise.
“After all, if Paulo Costa desires to do it, if the UFC says it is a risk, then I might be completely happy to combat right here in Abu Dhabi in October,” Ankalaev mentioned. “I all the time wish to give an thrilling combat and I all the time wish to give a enjoyable combat to the followers, nevertheless it looks like lots of people run away after I see them and I’ve to search out them and chase them down.
“Generally the combat would not go my method, so if Paulo Costa stands in entrance of me and desires to face up and punch me, I can undoubtedly beat him right here in Abu Dhabi.”
If Ankalaev vs. Costa is booked, the previous mild heavyweight champion is anticipated to focus his full consideration on the matchup, hoping to stay in title rivalry, whether or not it is in opposition to injured champion Carlos Ulberg or one other opponent for the vacant championship.
And he did not neglect his want to ebook a trilogy in opposition to Alex Pereira. With the UFC mild heavyweight championship sequence tied 1-1, Ankalaev is able to tilt the scenario in his favor if Pereira backs down after his bid for the interim heavyweight title on the UFC White Home fails.
“I wish to say yet another factor earlier than I neglect,” Pereira mentioned. “There was a man there who referred to as himself ‘Chama’ and he put my image up and was like, ‘What? Are you continue to alive?'” Effectively, if he wished to come back right here and take this combat, the UFC can be completely happy to make it occur. ”
