This is the UFC 308 live blog for Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic, the featured light heavyweight fight this Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
Widely believed to be one of the very best light heavyweights on Earth—and currently No. 3 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings—Ankalaev seemingly finds himself outside the good graces of the UFC. Despite a 12-fight unbeaten streak in the promotion, Ankalaev claimed UFC CEO Dana White told him he needed an impressive win this weekend to earn a title shot against Alex Pereira. Given that, Ankalaev hopes to follow up his Performance of the Night-winning knockout from January over Johnny Walker with another bonus-winning effort Saturday.
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Rakic has been a staple of the light heavyweight division’s top-10 since joining the UFC in 2017, but has struggled to get the signature win that would vault him into title contention. Worse yet, Rakic is now on a two-fight losing streak, suffering an unfortunate injury loss against Jan Blachowicz that sidelined him for nearly two years, before getting knocked out by Jiri Prochazka at UFC 300. Rakic hopes to stop the skid and re-establish himself as a legitimate title threat with a big win over the UFC’s black sheep.
Check out the UFC 308 live blog for Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic below.