News Ankalaev has a fight booked and its not Pereira; Update: Ankalaev vs Rakic set for UFC 308

[Rorschachxx]

This either means the UFC has other plans for Pereira (who's been teasing something for a while now posting calls with Dana and his current weight) or the UFC wants Ankalaev to have one more win.

Hell, it could be both of those things.

So who is Ankalaev fighting? I'm thinking either Rountree Jr. or Hill but of course thats purely speculative.

Update:

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Per Ankalaev’s manager Rizvan Magomedov, via Sport24:

 

[Prologue]

Gonna be Anthony Smith.

 

[Edward Henry Berg]

Good for Ankalaev, bad for UFC fans.

Ankalaev will get annihilated by Pereira, so it's good UFC prevented this fiasco.

Also a good boot-in-the-ass for Ankalaev, who ducked Pereira (wanting favorable terms in Abu Dhabi), rather than jumping at the chance to a title fight.

Stonewall this neck beard.

 

[Deleted member 513083]

I hope Ankalaev crushes whoever in the first with minimal damage and they book that fucking fight.
Who else makes sense at LHW? A Jan rematch? Hill? Ulberg? None of these make more sense than Ankalaev.

 

[World eater]

If this turns out to be true, I will be disappointed.

 

[BEATDOWNS]

run it back with Jan for #1 contender

 

[TheBulge]

What are these other plans?

 

[Deleted member 585708]

Tom Aspinall vs Alex Pereira CONFIRMED!
[Note: not confirmed]
Magomed Ankalaev vs Carlos Ulberg CONFIRMED!
[Note: not confirmed]

 

[BoxerMaurits]

What are these other plans?

Who knows…

 

[Rorschachxx]

Gonna be Anthony Smith.

Imagine.

But nah, Ank already walked though Smiths bum ass, I think its between Rountree, Hill or possibly even Rakic (though I doubt that one).

Jiri might be crazy enough to come back this soon but I highly doubt it after his KO.

Imagine if they dug out Krylov who's gone missing for a year now.

 

[World eater]

Aspinall - Perreira for the vacated HW belt?

 

[LoveMyMMA]

Ridiculous and unjust.

UFC preventing Ank from getting a deserved title shot because they don’t want another Muslim champion.

 

[TCE]

Who knows…

I thought Aspinall was the back up for Jones/Stipe, and he's clearly stated he's now only waiting for the winner of that fight (assuming the winner doesn't retire after).

 

[Luthien]

What if they put Tom vs Poatan as the co-main on the Stipe/Jones card?
Could be a great way to drum up some crazy hype Tom would still fight the winner of Stipe/Bones even if Poatan won their fight -o

 

[sdpdude9]

Well that sucks, that’s the fight to make. Unless Pereira is going to be out for a while, I don’t have much interest in him going to heavyweight especially with having a viable contender in the UFC weight class he’s champion of.

 

[LoveMyMMA]

UFC forced Ank to fight another top contender because they refuse to let Alex fight Ank.

I find that ridiculous.

Ank deserves a TS and Dana isn't giving it to him because he doesn't want to risk losing Alex as a champ.

 

[Laheys'Liquorland]

Woooooooo!!
Alex P vs Goat Jones baby!!!

 

[Joinho10]

That's a shame. Pereira- Ankalaev is the most exciting matchup possible in the LHW division and the biggest test yet for Pereira. Does anybody know what these "plans" for Pereira is? I'll hold off on saying UFC is protecting him but if it ends up being him fighting Roundtree or Oezdemir it will be hard to deny the accusations.

 

[laleggenda27]

That's a shame. Pereira- Ankalaev is the most exciting matchup possible in the LHW division and the biggest test yet for Pereira. Does anybody know what these "plans" for Pereira is? I'll hold off on saying UFC is protecting him but if it ends up being him fighting Roundtree or Oezdemir it will be hard to deny the accusations.

I say this as a Poatan supporter: they've been protecting him from grapplers since he entered the UFC. Surely we all realize this by now.