Las Vegas, NV — Moments after receiving a letterman jacket commemorating 50 clean drug tests under the UFC‘s anti-doping program on Wednesday, UFC Vegas 84 headliner Magomed Ankalaev told media outlets including Cageside Press what that recognition means to him.
“I’ve always been for clean sport, so this is well deserved,” said Ankalaev (17-1-1, 1NC), who runs it back with Johnny Walker in the main event of this Saturday’s Fight Night card.
When the names he’s now rubbing shoulders with were mentioned, including the likes of Daniel Cormier, Ankalaev added that “yes of course, it’s a big honor for me to be among those great giants, but to get here, it wasn’t a one-day thing. There was a lot that was covered to get to this point. So yes, it’s very important to me, and I’m happy that I’m here now.”
The first fight between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker ended in a No Contest when an illegal knee left Walker unable to continue. It’s not the first time a controversial finish has marred one of Ankalaev’s fights. In 2020, his first win over Ion Cutelaba was questioned, after the Moldovan appeared to be faking being rocked to lure Ankalaev in when the ref opted to wave things off. Ankalaev would win the rematch that October, and feels like that was the worse situation of the two.
“I feel like we had a much worse situation when it came to the fight with Cutelaba, because that one took forever to reschedule and for us to be able to fight again after that silly stoppage,” stated Ankalaev. “I feel like with this way [the Walker rematch], we were given an opportunity, we of course accepted it, we didn’t have to wait long. So it’s an opportunity to prove and do what was supposed to happen in the first fight.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 84 media day appearance by Magomed Ankalaev above.
