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Their first fight ended in controversial fashion.
Maybe this time there will be no refereeing controversy.
After a bizarre ending to a wild but brief fight between light heavyweights Magomed Ankalaev (14-1) and Ion Cutelaba (15-5-1 NC), the two men will go at it again at UFC 249 on April 18th in Brooklyn, New York. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported the news late last week. The night’s main card airs live on PPV, with prelims split between ESPN and ESPN+.
Just over a week ago at UFC Norfolk, Cutelaba initiated the chaos during Bruce Buffer’s introductions when he walked towards Ankalaev’s corner for a confrontation. When the dust settled and the actual fight began, Ankalaev rocked Cutelaba with a head kick and was looking for the finish. Even though Cutelaba was wobbled, he never went down and was throwing back. Referee Kevin MacDonald still made the widely criticized decision to stop the fight after just 38 seconds.
Afterward, Cutelaba said it was part of his plan to make it seem like he was more hurt than he was, but I assume “tricking the ref into stopping the fight” was not thought through.
UFC 249 features a lightweight championship main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. The co-main event pits former strawweight champions Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade in a pivotal rematch, only this time it’s three rounds.