The second bout of the UFC 308 main card is a title eliminator between #2 & #5 light-heavyweight contenders Magomed Ankalev and Aleksandar Rakic.
There exists a large portion of fans who have viewed Ankalaev as yet another Dagestani heir apparent set to take over UFC, in this instance as the inevitable inheritor to Jon Jones’ light-heavyweight title.
That idea has been challenged a few times, first when he tapped out to a Paul Craig triangle choke with one second left in a fight Magomed had otherwise dominated. Still, after that he went on a nine-fight winning streak, though having only one finish in his four fights against ranked foes soured many on his style.
Many more were disillusioned yet again in his first-ever UFC title fight, a fight for the vacant title left behind by Jiri Prochazka after he vacated it due to injury, a fight against former champion Jan Blachowicz. Jan is still beloved by many, but after he put up very little resistance and got taken down easily by an older Glover Teixeira, it was assumed that Ankalaev would have little problem due to his own wrestling proficiency.
In the actual fight, Magomed Ankalaev once again showcased fight IQ issues and had a tepid point kickboxing match with Blachowicz until the second round, when the Polack’s leg kicks began to take a toll and make the Dagestani limp.
Then and only then did he actively hunt takedowns, yet he still only managed to get a draw out of the whole ordeal. As a result, the UFC moved on and gave a title shot to Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill, which led to Ankalaev having to prove himself all over again.
So here we stand. Aleksandar Rakic just lost to Jiri Prochazka, but he has an equal chance at the next title shot. Presumably whoever wins this one will earn it. Rakic has had his own issues with fight IQ and consistency in the past, but he has shown explosive striking skills and surprisingly good wrestling. He may not be an exceptional takedown artist, but Rakic knows solid, fundamental defensive wrestling.
As a genuine super-athlete, he just needs to be able to put all his athleticism and skills together. For a while, like Ankalaev, he had struggled to find knockouts despite those skills because of passivity and lack of process. In his last fight against Jiri, however, Rocket’ corrected too far the other direction, going hell for leather from the opening bell against a supernaturally durable fighter. That led to Rakic wearing himself down by beating up on Prochazka’s chin before getting rag dolled and TKOed in the second round.
Ankalaev’s last fight against Johnny Walker, on the other hand, did not test his abilities at all. He has still not sharpened his toolset, found the right balance between offense and defense, wrestling and striking, and mixing it all together.
This is one of many UFC 308 fights which could go either way, which speaks to why this card is so good. I expect the 205-lb title eliminator to end in a close decision, perhaps a split. And yet again I find myself leaning the way of the underdog straight up. I feel like Rakic is more likely to find his perfect balance than Ank is, have a dominant performance, while for Ankalaev a 29-28 decision victory seems almost like his best-case scenario to me.
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