Champion prospects: what awaits Yana, Makhachev and Ankalaev after victories at UFC 267

Return of Ian's title

The largest tournament of the Absolute Fighting Championship in October was successful for the majority of domestic athletes. Of the nine fighters, only two were forced to leave the octagon in the status of losers, and Roman Kopylov lost to his compatriot Albert Duraev. But if the former ACA champion only made his debut in the main MMA promotion of the planet, then Pyotr Yan, Islam Makhachev and Magomed Ankalaev are already in the elite of their weight categories and in the very near future they can win the titles of absolute champions.

True, if the colleagues only have to compete for the trophy for the first time, then in the case of Jan we are talking about the return of the lost gold. The Russian became the champion in July 2020, but could not hold a single successful defense. In a fight with Aljamain Sterling, he performed a prohibited knee blow and was disqualified. The management of the promotion made an unprecedented decision and not only deprived the domestic fighter of the title, but also awarded them the American. And this is taking into account the fact that earlier in the history of the UFC, the title has never changed the owner in this way.

Apparently, the promotion quickly realized the absurdity of the verdict and appointed a rematch between Sterling and Ian, but the newly-made champion was clearly not eager to re-enter the cage. At first, he decided to undergo neck surgery, the return match was postponed to October, and a month before the appointed date, he again referred to the injury. True, he later admitted that the discomfort in the neck was not the only reason to abandon the battle.

Now Sterling has virtually nowhere to retreat. The victory over Corey Sandhagen not only allowed Ian to remain the first challenger, but also to win the temporary belt. However, if it was often introduced only with the aim of emphasizing the status of the first number of the rating, then this time the reasons are more compelling. Dana White and the company certainly understand that Aljemain may in the future try to avoid a fight with Peter, so they want to dot the i's in this matter. In the event of another refusal, the American can be deprived of the title, and the absolute title can either be given to the Russian or played out in battle.

And at the moment there is every reason to believe that this scenario seems more realistic. Yes, even though Sterling promised to see Ian in a cage, his health condition may well prevent him from doing so. A similar opinion was expressed by ex-champion of the organization T.J. Dillashaw. He admitted that he did not question Aljamain's neck problems, but did not believe that he would ever return to the octagon.

The most likely scenario is that the belt will be played in a duel between two leaders of the division rating up to 61.2 kilograms. We are talking about Ian and Dillashaw, whose battle was one of the most anticipated since the arrival of the Russian in the UFC. However, at first, Peter did not reach the status of a counterpart, and then TJ lost successively to Henry Sehudo and earned a two-year suspension for doping. It was in his absence that the Russian climbed to the top of the category.

In July, Dillashaw made his long-awaited return to the championship and took on Sandhagen in a tense battle.

Surely it was he who would be considered the main candidate to replace Sterling at the show in Abu Dhabi, but the plans were spoiled by a knee injury.

Fortunately, there was no rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee, the rehabilitation period was only three months.

As TJ stated, he will be ready for battle in early 2022.

And it is possible that Yang will become his opponent.

Hike behind Makhachev's belt

Unlike his compatriot, Islam Makhachev is in a slightly different situation.

At UFC 267, he took over a top 10 opponent for the first time and entered the championship race.

But despite nine wins in a row, he may not get a chance to fight for the belt any time soon.

And to a certain extent it will be logical.

Apart from the champion in the person of Charles Oliveira, there are four fighters above Makhachev. Moreover, Dustin Poirier will make a second attempt to ascend to the throne of the category in December, and Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler will argue with each other on November 6. At the moment, they occupy the second and fourth places in the ranking and it would be quite logical if the next contender is determined precisely in their face-to-face confrontation. Unlike Islam, both have been in the elite for a longer time and have already competed with opponents of the highest level.

And in this aspect Makhachev is somewhat inferior. Apart from Hooker, he has not faced top rivals. At the time of the fight, only Thiago Moises was in the top 15 of the UFC lightweight division, while the rest were not on the table of ranks. Of course, there were some pretty strong athletes among them, like rising star Arman Tsarukyan, PFL 2021 Grand Prix finalist Chris Wade and Gleison Tibau. But against the backdrop of the track records of Gaethje and Chandler, this does not look impressive.

Of course, with a successful combination of circumstances, Makhachev can fight for a trophy in December.

If Oliveira or Poirier are injured, he may come on as a substitute.

He himself said this at the end of the show in Abu Dhabi.

Otherwise, the organization of the battle between Islam and Beneil Dariush seems to be the most logical.

The Iranian American ranks third in the ranking and has no plans for the near future.

Consequently, the fight can be carried out and not wait until the losers in the duel for the belt or the battle between Gaji and Chandler recover.

Ankalaev's perspectives

As for Magomed, he is also one or two victories away from the title fight. Until now, he ranked seventh on the list, and success in the battle with Volkan Ozdemir will certainly allow him to overcome a couple of steps. But there are two snags at once. First, there are still too many competitors in front of him. Secondly, his performances are not the most spectacular and hardly make a positive impression on White.

Undoubtedly, in terms of skill, Ankalaev is one of the strongest in the light heavyweight division. He is able to work equally well in both left and right stances, kicks dangerously, is very hardy and good at wrestling. But in the last two battles, he demonstrated this only in episodes and did not try to end the fight ahead of schedule. And in the UFC, this is extremely negative. Therefore, one should not be surprised if the matchmakers try to make his path to the first line extremely thorny.

While there is every reason to believe that by the end of 2022, Ankalaev is unlikely to get an opportunity to argue for the title. Most likely, at the beginning of the year, the UFC will organize a meeting with a representative of the top 5, and if successful, arrange a final test in the form of one of the category leaders. For example, with the same Jan Blakhovich, who lost his title at the tournament in Abu Dhabi. And only after that he will be able to compete for the trophy.

Magomed has chances to speed up his hike behind the belt, but for this he needs to start acting in a less cautious manner and try to end the fights ahead of schedule.

After all, it is the colorful knockouts and bloody battles that are especially appreciated by the leadership of the American promotion.

In this regard, the example of his rival in the division, Jiri Prochazki, is indicative.

Cech made his debut in the championship in July 2020 and only entered the cage twice, but is now a challenger.

And all thanks to his flamboyant style.

He won both fights ahead of schedule and put on a real show in the octagon, which won White.