As if Saturday’s announcement of UFC 308’s main trio of fights wasn’t enough, the promotion added another expensive fight.
[autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) will face [autotag]Aleksandar Rakić[/autotag] (14-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in a key light heavyweight bout on the main card at the Etihad ARena in Abu Dhabi, UFC CEO Dana White announced.
UFC 308 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) is scheduled for October 26 with a featherweight title fight between champion Ilia Topuria and former champion Max Holloway in the main event. Additionally, Khamzat Chimaev faces former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and Ciryl Gane faces Alexander Volkov.
Ankalaev lost his UFC debut in 2018 to Pau Craig with one second left in the third round. He hasn’t lost since. His only blemish since then has been a split draw with Jan Blachowicz for the then-vacant 205-pound title at the end of 2022.
After a no contest with Johnny Walker in October 2023, he fought the Brazilian again in January and knocked him out in the second round to earn his first post-fight bonus in over three years.
Rakic urgently needs a recovery. After back-to-back wins over Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos, both former title challengers, he has back-to-back TKO losses to former champions Jan Blachowicz and Jiri Prochazka, the most recent of which came in April. It is the first skid in two fights of his career.
With the addition, the latest UFC 308 lineup now includes:
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Ilia Topuria x Max Holloway – for the featherweight title
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Khamzat Chimaev vs Robert Whittaker
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Ciryl Gane x Alexander Volkov
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Magomed Ankalaev vs Aleksandar Rakic
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Rinat Fakhretdinov x Nursulton Ruziboev
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Dan Ige x Lerone Murphy
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Kennedy Nzechukwu x Marcos Rogério
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC 308.
This article was originally published on MMA Junkie: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic sneaks into crowded UFC 308 lineup
