It may sound strange to say it but Magomed Ankalaev, whose sole career defeat came almost six years ago, is without a win in his last two visits to the UFC cage. 

The 31-year-old Russian, who rematches Johnny Walker this weekend in Las Vegas, has not experienced a victory in the Octagon since a July 2022 win against Anthony Smith. Following that fight, which he won by second round TKO after Smith sustained a leg injury, Ankalaev fought to a split draw with Jan Blachowicz to contest the then-vacant 205-pound title.

Then came the aforementioned Walker fight this past October, which was declared a no-contest in the first round after Ankalaev landed an illegal knee from which cageside doctors said the Brazilian fighter was unable to recover from.

But now that everyone is healed, healthy and, presumably, looking to make a statement on their respective paths to title contention in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, Ankalaev will be hoping to score that first win since the summer of 2022 — and you can remind yourself of that performance against Smith in the video below:

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