Magomed Ankalaev secured a dominant victory at UFC Abu Dhabi , but failed to excite the crowd. In the main event, held last Saturday, the former champion faced Bogdan Guskov and, despite securing a knockout in the final round, was booed by the local fans, even though he was practically fighting at home. His performance divided opinions, but Daniel Cormier defended the Russian, attributing the lukewarm pace of the fight to his opponent's behavior.
In a video published on his YouTube channel, Cormier assessed that Ankalaev had an obligation to seek a stoppage against a lower-ranked opponent and highlighted that the fighter fulfilled this role throughout the fight. The commentator acknowledged that the duel had moments of little action, but explained that the reason was Guskov's excessively defensive posture.
“Ankalaev needed a finish. When you fight a guy who’s number 9 in the world, and you’re the number 1 contender, a former champion, you have to finish these guys. Ankalaev ended up doing it… It was a slow fight. But, in the middle of the second round, he realized that Bogdan Guskov wasn’t engaging with Magomed Ankalaev . Ankalaev was going after him. He was trying to make it an exciting fight. Guskov didn’t want to do that, retreating and circling the outside of the octagon,” said Daniel Cormier.
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Cormier also recalled Ankalaev's loss to Alex Poatan at UFC 320 and highlighted that the time away seems to have had a positive effect. According to him, the changes in the training camp were evident in the Russian's more aggressive posture, who demonstrated a greater intention to finish the fight and evolve in the way he pursues results inside the octagon.
“Ankalaev lost the belt in a devastating way to Alex Poatan at UFC 320. He was out for a long time, said he made several changes to his training camp and, honestly, his aggressiveness in the octagon showed that he felt he could get a submission, or that he did something different to seek those outcomes,” concluded the former fighter.
Magomed Ankalaev dominates Bogdan Guskov, but bores audience at UFC Abu Dhabi
Ankalaev focused before fighting in the UFC. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC
Having not fought since his loss to Alex Poatan at UFC 320 in October 2025, Magomed Ankalaev returned to action at UFC Abu Dhabi against Bogdan Guskov . Despite leaving no doubt about his superiority, the Russian failed to excite the fans.
Ankalaev controlled Guskov for four rounds with little action and, only in the fifth round, already under boos from the crowd, managed to secure a technical stoppage via ground and pound, more due to his opponent's fatigue than to the damage caused by his own strikes.
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