It was now or by no means for Magomed Ankalaev.
Emanating from T-Cellular Enviornment, Ankalaev will lastly get a crack at reigning gentle heavyweight champion Alex Pereira when the 2 headline this Saturday’s UFC 313 pay-per-view in Las Vegas.
It’s been greater than three years for the reason that final time he had an opportunity to take house a UFC title. Working his approach again to the highest of the division with wins over Johnny Walker and Aleksandar Rakić in his final two outings, Ankalaev knew that if alternative knocked once more, he’d must reply.
Because of this, the 32-year-old Dagestani fighter might be preventing in the course of Ramadan — a choice he didn’t take evenly.
“Clearly, it’s not factor to struggle throughout Ramadan,” Ankalaev informed MMAMania.com. “That is the holiest of holy months for us. That is the month once we spend extra time in a mosque, we pray extra, we reward the lord extra. However this is a chance we couldn’t let go of as a result of if we didn’t take this struggle, we wouldn’t know the following time this chance would occur. So, clearly, it’s not ideally suited, however that is the kind of alternative now we have to take now.”
Will observing Ramadan affect Magomed Ankalaev’s capability to make weight?
For these unfamiliar, Ramadan is the holiest month of the 12 months for Muslims. Based on the Islamic Community Group, “Muslims commemorate the revelation of the Qur’an, and quick from food and drinks in the course of the sunlit hours as a way of drawing nearer to God and cultivating self-control, gratitude, and compassion for these much less lucky.”
Ramadan runs from Feb 28, 2025, by means of Sat, Mar 29, 2025.
Whereas present UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has each educated and fought throughout Ramadan, most Muslim fighters select to not compete because of the sacrifices it takes — significantly when slicing weight. However regardless of the sacrifice, Ankalaev goes to do all the pieces he can to go away ‘Sin Metropolis’ as the brand new king of the 205-pound division.
In any case, who is aware of when or if he’ll ever get this shot once more?
“Quite a lot of feelings,” Ankalaev mentioned. “Ready is the worst factor you are able to do. You simply sit there and also you wait. Clearly there was just a little little bit of frustration occurring, however we’ve been asking for this and ready for this. It’s simply been a very long time, however now we lastly received this chance and that’s behind us. We’re going to do no matter we are able to to ensure to get this victory.”
