Magomed Ankalaev has a new opponent for UFC Abu Dhabi next Saturday at the Etihad Arena. The former champion was supposed to take on former title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. According to the UFC, Rountree Jr. has suffered an injury and is out of the fight.
Tenth-ranked Bogdan Guskov, who was supposed to rematch Jan Blachowicz on August 1 in Belgrade, Serbia, steps in as a late replacement. It is unknown if Jan Blachowicz will remain on UFC Belgrade.
A Brand New Fight
For Magomed Ankalaev, the fight in Abu Dhabi is his first fight since his title loss last year against Alex Pereira. The Russian light-heavyweight won the title in March last year after defeating the Brazilian via unanimous decision. Unfortunately for Ankalaev, he suffered a quick defeat in the rematch. Now he is back and has to win against Guskov to keep a possible new title fight in sight.
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Opponent Guskov gets a massive opportunity from the UFC. The Uzbek fighter lost his UFC debut in 2023 but won four fights straight since. In his most recent fight, he took on former champion Jan Blachowicz. After three rounds, the fight ended in a draw. The UFC wasn’t satisfied with that result and rebooked the fight for next month. Guskov had to pull out of that fight in favor of taking the fight against Ankalaev in Abu Dhabi. A win for Guskov would put him in immediate title contention.
UFC Abu Dhabi – Etihad Arena (July 25th)
Main Card
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Magomed Ankalaev vs. Bogdan Guskov
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Steve Erceg vs. Ramazan Temirov
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Islam Dulatov vs. Wellington Turman
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Magomed Zaynukov vs. Damian Rzepecki
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Rizvan Kuniev vs. Tyrell Fortune
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Abubakar Vagaev vs. Saygid Izagakhmaev
Preliminary Card
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Valter Walker vs. Thomas Petersen
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Dustin Jacoby vs. Muhammad Said
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Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Sam Patterson
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Ismael Bonfim vs. Axel Sola
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Magomed Tuchalov vs. Brendson Ribeiro
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Abdul Hussein vs. Cody Gibson
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