Magomed Ankalaev's most recent victory at UFC 277 moved him one step closer to championship contention.
The Dagestani native defeated former title contender Anthony Smith with a nasty ground-and-pound finish to clinch his ninth straight victory overall and improve to 18-1 on the year. Smith had to be taken out of the octagon by his crew after the fight because of a catastrophic ankle injury he sustained at the conclusion of the first round.
Regardless of the outcome, Ankalaev did the job, and he is now searching for an opportunity to challenge for the UFC championship.
Naturally, this fight was crucial for me, Ankalaev said. "We showed him a fight tonight because he wanted to witness one. Who do you believe caused [his leg's] break? He struck me.
How many more matches must I prevail in order to compete for the championship?
The opening round saw the light heavyweights exchange kicks, with neither Ankalaev nor Smith wanting to overcommit for fear of making a costly error. Ankalaev started to connect with his combinations as he became more aggressive, but Smith was holding him in check with a variety of kicks to the torso and legs.
Due to an ankle injury sustained from the final kick Smith delivered to Ankalaev that resulted in an injury, Smith was limping when he headed to the corner in between rounds. Smith continued to compete in the second round despite practically standing on one leg, but he was forced to look for a takedown, which Ankalaev quickly foiled.
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Ankalaev started hitting enormous bombs when Smith got buried beneath him and a few of his punches managed to get through Smith's resistance. Ankalaev won through TKO at 3:09 in the second round as it became evident that Smith would be unable to escape. The referee intervened to save Smith from additional injury.
Even though Smith's injury was unavoidably unfortunate, Ankalaev still managed to win, positioning himself to maybe face a No. 1 contender or even get a championship chance, depending on how the UFC books the next fight for incumbent champion Jiri Prochazka.
