How big of a chance do you give Rakic against Ankalaev?

[PhilMcCavity]

Ankalaev may look like a bird but despite his avian features he is going to dismantle rakic. Ankalaev has the wingspan of a condor and the iq of a seagull but this fight will not be for the birds. The winner will get pereira unless he flies to coop to heavyweight.

 

[swarrrm]

Rakic by ko

 

[ElLunico]

Not much. Rakic just not durable. Rakic one of those fighters that's amazing when he's the hammer but you give him a little adversity and he gets shook physically and mentally

 

[drphil]

Jesus at this point the amount of crying about him not fighting alex has given him a mythical aura and supernatural powers.

It's gonna be hilarious the meltdown that follows rakic koing him

 

[bng]

34,384018492408284295%

 

[Striker Fox]

He's a dangerous fight for anyone currenty at LHW. That's why they want Ankalaev to fight him before getting a shot at the golden goose

 

[Jose Beehive]

I think i'd favour him right now, will know after the first couple of minutes who's gonna get the momentum on this one I reckon.

 

[Doughie99]

I think Rakic is a hard matchup for Ankalaev stylistically, probably one of the hardest at LHW. He's a solid striker, has great low kicks and can probably match/negate Ankalaev's wrestling (if he tries to use it). To me it wouldn't be some big upset if Rakic managed to win.

View attachment 1060339

15%

 

[milliniar]

69%

 

[Krixes]

Rakic is a beast for about 7 minutes.

 

[Xoleth]

He has more chances than Alex to beat Ankalaev.
Happy?

Just because he can stop takedowns better.

 

[World eater]

Unless he finds a finish fast, Rakić is likely to lose this one. Ank managed not to lise a clear DQ illegal knee fight over there.

 

[Safton]

On-paper Rakic is not an easy stylistic match-up for Ankalaev. He's one of the best low-kickers in the division, just behind Pereira & Jan and roughly on par with Ankalaev himself in my opinion. We've seen Magomed struggle against that weapon. Rakic fights comfortably off his back foot and is capable of racking up points with an educated jab while deterring opponents with that nasty check hook. He is also historically difficult to take down and hold down. It's also worth noting that he is a surprisingly willing and capable offensive wrestler himself despite coming from a kickboxing background, though I suspect he's lost a step in that regard with his injury and subsequent lay-off.

That said, I do ultimately still favor Ankalaev. I think he's a generally bigger finishing threat wherever the fight goes. Rakic seems to lack anything resembling a killer instinct and doesn't have a ton of pop in his hands. It's also hard to know just how much that injury and time off took out of him, especially if Ankalaev forces a high wrestling pace on him and makes him scramble repeatedly. I suspect Magomed has worked extensively on his defense & awareness against low kicks judging by his performance(s) against Johnny Walker.

I'd consider Ankalaev something like a -300 favorite (give or take), which corresponds to like a 75% implied win probability if I'm not mistaken.

 

[MrCoffee]

Rakic via KO and emotional shitstorm to follow.

Somehow it will be about Alex ducking.

 

[USA!USA!]

Rakic is very good but a gatekeeper and not elite and won't be champ

He'll probably make this fight competitive and still lose in the end as he tends to do against the best in the division

 

[JKS]

I favor Rakic in this one

 

[flowoftruth]

Rakic is very good, though he is coming off being ko'd be Jiri and I wonder how it will affect him.

 

[omawho402]

Chances against Ank are zero.

 

[Evbo]

I think Rakic's recent losses (to Jan and Jiri) are clouding some peoples judgement. One was an injury, and the fight with Jiri was insane damage being dealt out by both until Jiri landed the big one. I remember Rakic looking like a very solid all-round fighter for the vast majority of his UFC career.

He has lost his last two by stoppage though, so difficult to say with certainty what he'll look like against Ank, but Ankalaev has looked anything but perfect in his UFC career, Jan made him limp out of the Octagon and Rakic loves a leg kic.

I go with 60/40 Ank

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

He has a good chance to win, 50/50 fight for me. Ank is still very unproven in terms of fighting top 10, he fought Jan who is in top 10 and it was a draw, apart from that Johnny Walker is his best win lol, which is saying a lot, who hasn't beaten Walker.

Rakic looked very good his last fight with Jiri, he was totally dominating and landed a lot, and then he got caught, but its not like he looked bad, it was a good performance up until that point