Consensus on Ankalaev?

markys00 said:
Real shit take
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What do you expect from one of the worst posters on Sherdog?

Thing about Ankalaev is... his level of opposition isn't that high.

Look at his last 10 fights :

Cutelaba 1 - Ion is C level
Cutelaba 2 - nothing changes
Krylov - Nikita is hard to rate. I would say he is B/B+
Volkan - just like Krylov. I would say he is B+ player
Thiago Santos - when he was in his prime Marretta was a menace but when he fought Magomed he was past his prime.
Smith - Anthony was always hit and miss guy. Might be past it when he fought Ankalaev.
Jan - many variables - fight was scheduled for 3 rounds but later changed due to title implications, so they have to change gameplan and pacing to restrain stamina. When Ank finally fought elite level opponent in big Jan B he lost first 3 rounds and used Jans weakness in wrestling and his fatigue. Draw was correct score.
Johnny Walker - NC but that was stupid. Should be DQ loss. Walker is unstable - he can KO high level opponent and be destroyed by absolutely can. I would say that he is B level.
Walker rematch - not much to write here.
Rakić - and finally another good opponent. I would say Aleksandar is A level so tier below elite but very good fighter. Once again Magomed has showed that he is very gunshy which is often his weakness.

Alex Pereira will be only 2nd elite fighter that Ankalaev will face so it is interesting. His average level of opposition is somewhat B level fighters but I have no doubt that Ank is himself elite.
 
I favor Pereira, Nemkov, maybe Jiri over him. Also peak Gus, Rumble, Glover, Santos, Reyes, Machida, Evans, Couture, not to mention DC and Jones.
 
Ankalaev is his own worst enemy. Bad fight iq, speaks before thinking. He can absolutely defeat Alex, but defeating both Alex and his own ego might prove an issue.
 
Sean Chowdhury said:
You rarely see a dagestani on a 13 fight unbeaten streak that has little to no hype but that's the case with ankalaev even though he's looked pretty good every time he fought.

Dropped volkan and pieced him up for the whole fight

Took krylov down in round 2 and 3 and controlled him on the ground, krylov is considered one of the best wrestlers at LHW and ankalaev outwrestled him

Shut out rakic and consistently landed left straights to the body and head, wasn't the most exciting fight but he made a top level LHW look harmless.

Only bad performance was the Jan fight where he got his legs chewed up and had to panic wrestle, it was a low IQ first 3 rounds from ankalaev but he did 10-8 Jan on the ground in round 5 when he decided to heavy wrestle

This may be a hot take but I think ankalaev is basically a nightmare matchup for alex, he's a southpaw with a nasty left hand similar to khalil and he has excellent defense and distance management. He has good takedowns when he decides to go for them, this isn't sloppy gut Hill who fights like a bar brawler, alex will have to find the perfect shot on someone with a massive wrestling advantage that has solid power of his own and 5 round cardio
Click to expand...

He's not unbeaten. He lost to Paul Craig and went to a draw with Jan. He's actually very mid
 
He's the only one left at LHW. Looked like he's fighting in mud. If he had more dominant wrestling I'd say he'd be more of a threat. Probably finds a way to make a boring Pereira fight.
 
He should've got DQ'd in the first Walker fight and he got a draw against Jan so he has a %50 win rate in his last 4 fight.
He doesn't deserve a title fight but there are no other options, Alex cleaned the top of the division
 
Doctor Grudge said:
I think he's clearly a championship caliber fighter, but he's not a world beater like Makhachev and the like.

Perhaps as good as Jiri and prime Jan and the like, maybe a bit worse or a bit better.
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The truth is usually in the middle, I think what you wrote is completely appropriate.

LHW has a low roster depth and simply does not require the same skill level as the lighter weight classes. A well rounded fighter like Ank who is good-not-great at everything can fare well.

I don't see him pulling off devastating finishes or surprising anyone but he's going to be a top 5 opponent for some time.

re: Poatan matchup, you don't need to be a good wrestler to out grapple Alex. He will have a serious advantage in grappling and Alex will have a notable advantage in KO power.
 
He’s elite could very well beat Alex and become champ.
 
he has good striking and wrestling, nothing out of this world


he's top3 in the division by virtue of a shallow talent pool
 
I’ll be picking Alex if they fight, but wouldn’t be surprised if Ank wins. Strangely, and don’t even ask me why, but if Ank wins I think it will be by some freaky KO. I could see Alex doing Alex things on the feet, working some kicks, and then out of nowhere Ank just blasts him. This would be the absolute worst outcome for me as an Alex fan. The universe loves feeding losses to my favorite fighters at the hands of neckbeards, so this shouldn’t be any different. I’ve made peace with it, so lfg. This fight needs to happen.
 
Ankalaev is a classic gatekeeper in a very thin division, so he'll get a couple more championship bouts over the next few years and might, but probably won't, win one.
 
Dude got strangled by a guy who can’t even beat Bum Nickal.

Cut him and ban TS.
 
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