UFC 320: "He was getting injections" - Ali Abdelaziz reveals Magomed Ankalaev did not train for 40 days before UFC 320

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz was the latest guest on Submission Radio, and he provided an update on Magomed Ankalaev.

The Russian lost his UFC light heavyweight title to Alex Pereira at UFC 320, and injury rumors started to do the rounds.

While Pereira scoffed at the injury suggestions, Abdelaziz shed some new light on the problems Ankalaev faced ahead of the event. The manager claimed that the Russian didn’t train for an extended period and needed a lot of treatment to even make it to fight night:

“He did not train for almost 40 days for this fight. He came from Dagestan with some messed-up ribs and he sparred three times. Every time we have to stop the sparring. UFC knew about it, he was getting injections, he was getting cortisone.”

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Abdelaziz added that Ankalaev didn’t wrestle at all but hoped that the UFC understood the situation as the Russian kept the main event alive.

“The only thing he did for 40 days - run, jump, jump rope, hit mitts and do conditioning. He did zero wrestling, zero grappling. I hope the UFC will appreciate what he done for them to keep the main event going on.”

Check out Ali Abdelaziz’s comments in the video from 18:30:

As for Ankalaev’s future, Abdelaziz was adamant that his client was the best in the division and the Russian would be in for a title shot after one more fight.

Alex Pereira rips into Magomed Ankalaev’s injury issues

Alex Pereira reclaimed his light heavyweight crown with a stunning first-round win over Magomed Ankalaev. There was a bit of bad blood between the pair going into the fight, and the Brazilian has slammed his rival over the injury rumors.

Pereira was on the Connect Cast podcast and believed that his rival had never dealt with the injuries ‘Poatan’ had. The Brazilian further suggested that Ankalaev would quit the UFC if he saw the champion’s injuries right now.

“Bro, if you saw my injuries right now, me, fighting him today, he’d feel like sh**. He wouldn’t even come back to fight again… He’d quit, man. I'll show you my medical results. What I've got versus what you've got. I doubt this guy has dealt with the things I've dealt with, man.”

Pereira has Jon Jones in his sights a the UFC White House event. This super fight could take place at heavyweight, though no fights for this grand event have been confirmed so far.