It was now or never for Magomed Ankalaev.
Emanating from T-Mobile Arena, Ankalaev will finally get a crack at reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira when the two headline this Saturday’s UFC 313 pay-per-view in Las Vegas.
It’s been more than three years since the last time he had a chance to take home a UFC title. Working his way back to the top of the division with wins over Johnny Walker and Aleksandar Rakić in his last two outings, Ankalaev knew that if opportunity knocked again, he’d have to answer.
As a result, the 32-year-old Dagestani fighter will be fighting in the middle of Ramadan — a decision he did not take lightly.
“Obviously, it’s not a good thing to fight during Ramadan,” Ankalaev told MMAMania.com. “This is the holiest of holy months for us. This is the month when we spend more time in a mosque, we pray more, we praise the lord more. But this is an opportunity we could not let go of because if we did not take this fight, we wouldn’t know the next time this opportunity would happen. So, obviously, it’s not ideal, but this is the type of opportunity we have to take now.”
Will observing Ramadan impact Magomed Ankalaev’s ability to make weight?
For those unfamiliar, Ramadan is the holiest month of the year for Muslims. According to the Islamic Network Group, “Muslims commemorate the revelation of the Qur’an, and fast from food and drink during the sunlit hours as a means of drawing closer to God and cultivating self-control, gratitude, and compassion for those less fortunate.”
Ramadan runs from Feb 28, 2025, through Sat, Mar 29, 2025.
While current UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has both trained and fought during Ramadan, most Muslim fighters choose not to compete due to the sacrifices it takes — particularly when cutting weight. But no matter the sacrifice, Ankalaev is going to do everything he can to leave ‘Sin City’ as the new king of the 205-pound division.
After all, who knows when or if he’ll ever get this shot again?
“A lot of emotions,” Ankalaev said. “Waiting is the worst thing you can do. You just sit there and you wait. Obviously there was a little bit of frustration going on, but we’ve been asking for this and waiting for this. It’s just been a long time, but now we finally got this opportunity and that’s behind us. We’re going to do whatever we can to make sure to get this victory.”
