Magomed Ankalaev points the finger at Bogdan Guskov for their lackluster affair.
The crowd grew restless during Ankalaev’s (21-2-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) fight against Guskov (18-3-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 282 headliner at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Ankalaev wound up finishing Guskov by Round 5 TKO.
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Ankalaev thinks it’s unfair that he was getting booed throughout the fight.
“Whether the fight was boring or not wasn’t up to me,” Ankalaev said in a translated interview with Red Corner MMA. “I was pressing forward. I wanted to fight, but my opponent stayed on the back foot and kept moving away. So I decided to wrestle and finish him on the ground.”
Amongst those who criticized the fight were Paulo Costa (16-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC), who made a splash in his return to 205 pounds by finishing Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327 in April.
“Costa didn’t perform well in his division, then moved up, won one fight, and got loud. If he’s ready to come forward, we’ll be waiting for him. But if he’s going to run and shy away, I see no point in fighting him.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Magomed Ankalaev: ‘I wanted to fight,’ but Guskov kept moving away
