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After putting the Ion Cutelaba drama behind him via devastating knockout at UFC 254 (recap), Magomed Ankalaev is looking for bigger challenges moving forward. Following his $50,000 bonus-winning finish of “The Hulk,” Ankalaev wasn’t shy in dropping a few names as his next potential challenge.
“I’d love to fight a Top 5 fighter, but it would be interesting, and I would prefer to fight ‘Shogun’ Rua or Anthony Smith, but other than that, anyone in the Top 5,” Ankaleav said during the post-fight presser (via Sherdog).
Rus is 5-1-1 in his last seven bouts and was last seen defeating Antonio Rogerio Nogueira for the third time at UFC Fight Island 3 this past July. Smith, meanwhile, is looking to snap his two-fight skid when he takes on Devin Clark on Nov. 28.
For now, Ankalaev — winner of five straight — will take some much-needed time off after going through a rigorous six-month training camp due to the constant cancellation and rescheduling of his bout against Cutelaba.
“I feel great, now I can finally sleep well. It was a six month camp, so I did a really, really good job in the six months and today I proved it. I wanted to catch him, I wanted to finish with a counter and I finished with a counter. I think everybody in my division was watching this fight. I’m going after the top fighters, so I hope they’re waiting for me.”
If neither Rua or Smith are available for Ankaleav when he decides to return, perhaps he can look here for another option.