{"id":39556,"date":"2026-07-27T03:56:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T03:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Magomed-Ankalaev-sets-condition-for-Paulo-Costa-UFC-fight-202082"},"modified":"2026-07-27T03:56:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T03:56:56","slug":"magomed-ankalaev-sets-condition-for-paulo-costa-ufc-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/magomed-ankalaev-sets-condition-for-paulo-costa-ufc-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Magomed Ankalaev sets condition for Paulo Costa UFC fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Magomed
\nAnkalaev<\/a> will only take on Paulo Costa<\/a>
\nif the Brazilian is ready to bring the fight to him.<\/p>\n

The former
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a> light heavyweight titleholder
\ntook on Bogdan
\nGuskov<\/a> in the main event of
\nUFC Abu Dhabi<\/a>. Guskov had stepped up on two weeks\u2019 notice after
\nAnkalaev\u2019s original opponent, Khalil
\nRountree<\/a>, pulled out due to an injury. Ankalaev dominated
\nGuskov in a slow-paced bout before finishing him in the final round
\nwith ground-and-pound.<\/p>\n

Now back in the win column, the Russian has addressed his next
\nbout.<\/p>\n

Magomed Ankalaev says Paulo Costa fight depends on pressure and
\nforward movement<\/h2>\n

Ankalaev defended his recent performance against critics who found
\nit lackluster. He says that Guskov was backing up even though he
\nkept pressing forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t up to me whether the fight would be boring or not,\u201d
\nAnkalaev told Red Corner MMA. \u201cI was pressing forward, I wanted to
\nfight. But my opponent started working on the back foot and
\nconstantly running from me. So, then I decided to start wrestling
\nand finish him on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Costa was among those who found the fight boring, vowing to save
\nthe light heavyweight division from monotony.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the power of the Almighty, I shall save this weight class from
\nmonotony and boredom,\u201d Costa wrote on X.<\/p>\n

Costa (16-4) is coming off wins over Roman
\nKopylov<\/a> and the previously undefeated Azamat
\nMurzakanov<\/a>, labeling himself a \u201cRussian killer\u201d as he sets his
\nsights on Ankalaev.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne Russian killer against tedious fights,\u201d he wrote in a
\nfollow-up post.<\/p>\n

Ankalaev (21-2) is ready to fight Costa if the former middleweight
\ntitle contender comes forward and doesn\u2019t constantly remain on the
\nback foot as Guskov did.<\/p>\n

\u201cCosta didn\u2019t perform in his division, then moved up, won a single
\nfight, and got loud,\u201d Ankalaev said. \u201cIf he\u2019s ready to press
\nforward, we\u2019ll be waiting for him. But if he\u2019s going to run and shy
\naway, I see no point in fighting him.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

Magomed
\nAnkalaev<\/a> responds to criticism that his main event fight with
\nBogdan
\nGuskov<\/a> wasn’t entertaining, saying he wanted to engage but had
\nto adjust after Guskov stayed on the back foot. He also responds to
\nPaulo
\nCosta<\/a>\u2019s comments about bringing excitement back to the
\ndivision,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/M3HpHZIaRq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA)
\nJuly 26, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/center>
\n

<\/p>\n
\n

By the power of the Almighty, I shall save
\nthis weighclass from monotony and boredom.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Paulo
\nCosta<\/a> (@BorrachinhaMMA)
\nJuly 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/center>
\n

<\/p>\n
\n

One Russian killer against tedious fights.
\npic.twitter.com\/4KHAHhjSfr<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Paulo
\nCosta<\/a> (@BorrachinhaMMA)
\nJuly 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/center> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Magomed Ankalaev will only take on Paulo Costa if the Brazilian is ready to bring the fight to him. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder took on Bogdan Guskov in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi. Guskov had stepped up on two weeks\u2019 notice after Ankalaev\u2019s original opponent, Khalil Rountree, pulled out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}