Magomed Ankalaev continued his unbeaten streak with a decision win over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 and now he’s hoping he finally got Alex Pereira’s attention.

Over three rounds, Ankalaev showed he was the superior striker as he continued chipping away at Rakic and looking to set up a potential fight finishing sequence. The knockout never came but Ankalaev kept Rakic on his backfoot for the entire fight as he cruised to victory with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in his favor.

“I kept running after him but it was really hard to catch him,” Ankalaev said about his performance. “I don’t want to say anything bad about him but I didn’t understand his striking at all. Very uncomfortable opponent for me.”

The massive light heavyweights exchanged some huge, heavy kicks early with both trying to find an opening to do maximum damage. Ankalaev was marching forward and closing the distance on the taller fighter but Rakic was doing a good job keeping him honest with some well-timed straight punches and mixing in more of those long, rangy kicks.

While Rakic kept tossing out a head kick, Ankalaev displayed good hand speed and power with his boxing as he continued leading the dance. Ankaleav continued stabbing at Rakic with a variety of punches including a stiff shot to the body that definitely got his opponent’s attention.

Ankalaev was really starting to mix up his punches, tossing out a straight right and the following with a slick left uppercut behind it. As time passed, Rakic was stuck playing defense with Ankalaev really finding his rhythm on the feet.

With less than a minute remaining in the second round, Ankalaev mashed Rakic’s face with a nasty straight left down the middle. Rakic kept thrown back at him but Ankalaev was really beginning to control the action with his superior striking.

Ankalaev stayed on the gas moving forward and unleashing more and more of those straight left hands that just kept finding a home on Rakic’s chin. As time ticked away to the final horn, Ankalaev continued to punish Rakic on the inside with heavy punches and knees as he did more than enough to ensure that he would leave Abu Dhabi with the win.

Following his latest performance to stay unbeaten for 13 consecutive fights, Ankalaev wasted no time turning his attention to the UFC light heavyweight champion with hopes that a title shot is next in 2025.

“I think I’ve done everything to deserve the next title shot,” Ankalaev said. “I’d like to tell Alex, stop running away from me. Alex, stop running away from me.”

ABU DHABI – Lerone Murphy resorted to his grappling to remain unbeaten against Dan Ige at UFC 308.

Murphy (15-0-1 MMA, 7-0-1 UFC) was cracked early before rallying to defeat Ige (18-9 MMA, 10-8 UFC) by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). The featherweight bout was part of the UFC 308 main card at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Ige stalked Murphy to start, attacking him to the body and landing a nice combination. A minute and a half into the round, Ige slammed Murphy down for the takedown. Murphy managed to escape by giving up his back and turning out of the body lock. A cut opened up on Ige’s face. Murphy landed a nice spinning back kick to the body. Ige then dropped Murphy with a big counter left and swarmed him. Murphy covered up and fired back with a counter of his own, before taking Ige down at the end of the round.

Ige continued to press forward in Round 2. Murphy appeared to recover as he landed a body kick, followed by a straight right. The pace slowed down significantly until Ige decided to shoot for a takedown. Murphy reversed him and started working for his own takedown. Neither man was successful, as they returned to the center of the octagon. With less than a minute remaining, Murphy took Ige down and mounted him. He transitioned to his back then locked in a triangle choke to end the round.

With the score seemingly tied at one round a piece, Murphy immediately tried to take the fight back to the ground. Ige defended well, but ate a knee on the break. Murphy landed a head kick, followed by another takedown attempt. Ige reversed him and wound up in top position. Murphy tried to use a leg lock attempt to escape, but was denied. Ige tried to take Murphy’s back, but Murphy was able to work his way back up. Murphy then landed his own takedown, and worked for a front head lock. The pair exchanged in the pocket in the final 15 seconds as the clock winded down.

Following his win, Murphy called out former interim featherweight title challenger Josh Emmett.

https://twitter.com/UFCEurope/status/1850254284769620298

Emmett responded, and appeared seemingly unimpressed.

https://twitter.com/JoshEmmettUFC/status/1850254065596535111

Up-to-the-minute UFC 308 results include:

• Lerone Murphy def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Shara Magomedov def. Armen Petrosyan via TKO (spinning back fist) – Round 2, 4:52
• Ibo Aslan def. Rafael Cerqueira via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:51
• Geoff Neal def. Rafael dos Anjos via TKO (knee injury) – Round 1, 1:40
• Mateusz Rebecki def. Myktybek Orolbai via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Abus Magomedov def. Brunno Ferreira via submission (arm triangle) – Round 3, 3:14
• Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Chris Barnett via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:27
• Farid Basharat def. Victor Hugo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Ismail Naurdiev def. Bruno Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Carlos Leal via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Lerone Murphy remained undefeated with a gritty performance to beat Dan Ige in a featured bout on the main card at UFC 308 on Saturday.

Nothing came easy as Murphy had to survive an early knockdown before using a relentless pace and pressure to wear down Ige in the final two rounds. When it was over, Murphy had done enough to secure the victory with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in his favor.

“Of course, it was a close fight [but] I landed the cleaner strikes,” Murphy said after his latest win. “It was just a flash knockdown. I was all right. I’m still learning, young in the game. I’m learning on the job. Still getting better. The best is yet to come.”

From the second he was released from the corner, it was Ige was coming after Murphy, throwing vicious shots while closing the distance. Murphy countered with a nasty elbow that actually opened a sizable cut on Ige’s forehead, which led to him grabbing a well-timed takedown.

The fight didn’t stay on the ground for long as Murphy worked his way back to the feet and Ige settling down into a rhythm after he came out of the gates gun blazing.

As the exchanges continued, Ige countered a huge hook from Murphy with a devastating left hand of his own. The punch sat Murphy down on the ground as he scrambled to survive the barrage but once he got back to his feet, the featherweights started trading bombs just as the first round came to an end.

On the restart, Murphy was more wary stepping into the pocket in the exchanges with Ige, who was slowing down with each passing minute.

That allowed Murphy to set up his combinations with more fluidity, mixing up his strikes and keeping Ige guessing. Murphy then delivered a nice body lock takedown but he couldn’t maintain the position as Ige reversed him just before the horn sounded.

Following some stern advice from his coaches, Ige looked to come after Murphy again in the final round but that led to a takedown attempt from the Brit. Ige did a good job countering and he ended up on top while controlling Murphy on the canvas.

With 90 seconds left, Murphy scored a reversal of his own but the fighters eventually got up again and he was able to dish out some punishment with Ige beginning to fade. It was a close round but Murphy’s ability to connect with the better punches in those closing moments secured the victory for him.

Following another impressive win, Murphy hopes his next fight comes against a proven top 10 ranked contender.

“Josh Emmett, let’s go,” Murphy said when calling out the one-time interim title challenger. “I want somebody in that top 10. Let’s go Josh Emmett.”

When “Shara Bullet” faced quite possibly his toughest test to date, he pulled off an all-time highlight to clinch victory.

In the UFC 308 main card opener, Shara Magmomedov defeated Armen Petrosyan via TKO due to double backfist at 4:52 of Round 2. The event took place at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

The middleweight bout was fought at a frenetic pace with both fighters showing their passion for kicks. Magomedov (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) utilized his signature spinning attacks, though flare seemed to dominate over substance for stretches in the fight.

Petrosyan (9-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) landed some hard punches in the opening minutes, but Magomedov came on strong late in Round 1.

In Round 2, Petrosyan struggled to keep his kicks up. Referee Kerry Hatley intervened on multiple occasions after kicks to the cup by Petrosyan.

But Magomedov persevered. He then landed the first double backfist knockout in UFC history. He first spun and connected with a left spinning backfist. Then on the recoil, he spun the opposite direction and cracked Petrosyan again, this time with a left spinning backfist.

Shara Magomedov finishes Armen Petrosyan!! WOW!! #UFC308 pic.twitter.com/GLn5nN9wB0

— Haduucken (@Haduuuucken) October 26, 2024

The unbelievable sequence crumpled Petrosyan to the canvas. No follow-up shots were needed before Hatley waved off the bout.

Magomedov remains undefeated as he continues to grow his presence and popularity. Prior to Saturday’s fights, he defeated Bruno Silva, Antonio Trocoli, and Michal Oleksiejczuk.

Petrosyan falls into a two-fight skid. Saturday’s defeat was only his second pro loss by TKO.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 308 results include:

• Shara Magomedov def. Armen Petrosyan via TKO (spinning backfist) – Round 1, 4:52
• Ibo Aslan def. Rafael Cerqueira via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:51
• Geoff Neal def. Rafael dos Anjos via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 1:30
• Mateusz Rebecki def. Myktybek Orolbai via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Abus Magomedov def. Brunno Ferreira via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:14
• Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Chris Barnett via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:27
• Farid Basharat def. Victor Hugo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Ismail Naurdiev def. Bruno Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Carlos Leal via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.