As if Saturday’s announcement of the UFC 308 prime trio of fights wasn’t sufficient, the promotion added one other big-ticket bout.
Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) will tackle Aleksandar Rakic (14-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in a key mild heavyweight bout on the primary card at Etihad ARena in Abu Dhabi, UFC CEO Dana White introduced.
UFC 308 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) is ready for Oct. 26. with a featherweight title combat between champion Ilia Topuria and ex-champ Max Holloway in the primary occasion. Plus, Khamzat Chimaev meets former middleweight titleholder Robert Whittaker and Ciryl Gane takes on Alexander Volkov.
Ankalaev misplaced his UFC debut in 2018 to Pau Craig with one second left within the third spherical. He hasn’t misplaced since. His solely blemish since then was a break up draw with Jan Blachowicz for the then-vacant 205-pound title in late 2022.
After a no contest with Johnny Walker in October 2023, he ran it again with the Brazilian in January and knocked him out within the second spherical for his first post-fight bonus in additional than three years.
Rakic is badly in want of a rebound. After back-to-back wins over Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos, each former title challengers, he has consecutive TKO losses to former champs Jan Blachowicz and Jiri Prochazka, the latest of which got here in April. It’s the primary two-fight skid of his profession.
With the addition, the most recent UFC 308 lineup now consists of:
Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway – for featherweight title
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker
Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
Dan Ige vs. Lerone Murphy
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Marcos Rogerio
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 308.
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