Magomed Ankalaev gives his thoughts on possible UFC light heavyweight contenders

Magomed Ankalaev has given his thoughts on a handful of possible UFC light heavyweight contenders that he could end up facing.

On Saturday night, Magomed Ankalaev will defend his UFC light heavyweight championship against Alex Pereira. While it’s always dangerous to look past your opponent, many believe that ‘Big Ank’ is the favorite to win the fight and successfully retain his belt against the man who he took it from earlier this year.

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Beyond that, though, Ankalaev has a lot of interesting options if he does wind up leaving Las Vegas as the champion. There are a handful of really interesting contenders at 205 pounds and although some have suggested it’s a weak division, that no longer seems to be the case given the talent on display in the top 15 alone.

During his media day scrum, Ankalaev opened up on Carlos Ulberg, Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr.

Ankalaev’s view on UFC light heavyweight division

“When it comes down to Carlos Ulberg, obviously, he’s a very interesting guy,” Ankalaev told reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s media day. “He’s on a winning streak. I saw the victory, I saw the highlight of the win. He hasn’t been in the place where these guys have been. These guys have been knocked down by the former champ. (Ulberg) is a new guy, he hasn’t tested these waters that they’re in right now, so I think that’s definitely someone I’m interested in.”

“The fight (Prochazka vs Rountree Jr) that’s going to happen on the same card I’m fighting because, especially because it’s on the main card, this is not something I’m going to pay attention to, at all,” Ankalaev said. “I won’t even have time to look at it, so I’m not really interested in this fight whatsoever.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie