Light heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev understands why former champion Glover Teixeira gave up his title shot at UFC 282.
This weekend, Ankalaev will make the walk inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena for an unexpected opportunity at the 205-pound championship. Initially, the Dagestani was expecting to secure a shot by defeating Jan Blachowicz in the co-main event.
Meanwhile, the pay-per-view headliner was slated to see Jiří Procházka run it back with Teixeira for the first defense of his reign, which began this past June at UFC 275. But last month, it not only emerged that the Czech knockout artists was injured, but that he’d vacated the belt once the need for surgery was confirmed.
With that, Ankalaev has found himself with the first UFC PPV main event of his career and the chance to have the title wrapped around his waist with a 10th consecutive victory inside the Octagon.
While he’ll still have to dispatch Blachowicz if he’s to accomplish that, if the UFC‘s original plans came to fruition, Ankalaev would be sharing the Octagon with Teixeira. But with the Brazilian’s offer to meet the Pole for a rematch instead being rejected, he also finds himself off the card along with “Denisa.”
Ankalaev Assesses Teixeira’s UFC 282 Withdrawal
During a recent interview with The Schmo, Ankalaev reacted to his short-notice shot at gold, assessing why Teixeira wasn’t interested in fighting for the belt opposite him this weekend.
According to the Dagestani contender, Teixeira is likely afraid of facing him. And given the threat he poses and his trajectory inside the UFC, Ankalaev fully understands why the former champion chose to avoid him.
“I don’t know why he didn’t accept the fight. But hey, if I was him, I don’t know, maybe I wouldn’t accept this fight too,” Ankalaev said. “Because I’m in my prime, I’m only going up, I’m dangerous. He doesn’t want to be in trouble, you know? He’s scared, actually. I believe he’s scared, so this is the reason I believe he didn’t accept the fight.”
While some have since suggested that a second dance between Teixeira and Blachowicz would have made for a more intriguing PPV headliner, the UFC’s preference means that Ankalaev will have the chance to spread Dagestan’s MMA dominance into a new weight class come December 10.
Were you surprised that Glover Teixeira turned down a title fight against Magomed Ankalaev?
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