LAS VEGAS -- In the last 18 months, the UFC's light heavyweight championship belt has passed from Glover Teixeira to Jiri Prochazka to Jamahal Hill to the reigning champion, Alex Pereira. For most of that period, Magomed Ankalaev believed he should have been the one with the belt around his waist.
On Saturday in a rematch with Johnny Walker at Apex in the main event of UFC Vegas 84, Ankalaev emphatically stated his case by bludgeoning Walker.
After a crazy, frenetic first round in their bout that was a rematch of a no-contest at UFC 294 on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Ankalaev came out calmly and emphatically took care of business. He caught Walker with an overhand right that, for all intents and purposes, ended the fight. Walker went down against the cage, and it was obvious he wouldn't be getting up.
Ankalaev got there before referee Marc Godard, though, and cracked a seated Walker witih a blistering right hand. That put a halt to things at 2:42 of the second.
Ankalaev attacked from the bell at the start of the second, which analyst Paul Felder noted.
"The second round started and he went right across and started throwing bigger combinations," Felder said. "I think he felt what he needed to feel [from Walker in the first]. He said he was either going to knock him out or TKO him and he did exactly that. That was the performance he needed if he's going to get on the mic and start calling for title shots."
Ankalaev fought Jan Blachowicz to a split draw in a bout for the vacant light heavyweight title on Dec. 10, 2022, at UFC 282. Ankalaev thought he deserved to win that night and his opinion hasn't changed.
"I've considered myself the champion since that fight," Ankalaev said. "For whatever reason, the judges decided it was going to be a draw. Now, I have a chance to fight again for the title."
It's not so easy, of course. Ankalaev entered the fight ranked No. 3 at light heavyweight behind Hill and Prochazka. Prochazka has a fight against Aleksandar Rakic, but Hill is close to fully recovered and he deserves to be in the title mix, as well.
The only thing Ankalaev could do to influence the result was what he did. He hadn't won since stopping Anthony Smith on July 30, 2022, at UFC 277, and he needed desperately to get back into the win column. But he had to do it in style, as well, because he needed to do something to make the case to leapfrog Hill and get the shot.
Ankalaev didn't look particularly great against Blachowicz, even if one thought he won, so Saturday's bout was pressured-packed. Just winning and squeaking out a win probably wasn't enough. Maybe blowing away the No. 7 Walker won't do it, but it was absolutely what he needed.
Ankalaev was prepared afterward when he was asked to make his case for the bout against Pereira over Hill.
"Here, the math works out the way [to show] I'm more deserving of the belt because I have 10 victories, six of them knockouts, and Jamahal Hill has eight fights total in the UFC," he said."It's clear I'm a more deserving contender than Jamahal Hill."
That's open to debate, but Ankalaev regained the form that made him one of the sport's most dangerous strikers and fearsome light heavyweights in the sport. And that's something that will be a topic of conversation among Dana White, Hunter Campbell, Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard when they plot the division's course in the next week or two.
Ankalaev left them with a very good impression.