Ali Abdelaziz: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Paulo Costa 'needs to happen'
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Ali Abdelaziz sees Magomed Ankalaev vs. Paulo Costa as the perfect No. 1 contender bout.
Former light heavyweight champion Ankalaev (21-2-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) is fresh off a dominant finish of Bogdan Guskov in the UFC Fight Night 282 headliner in Abu Dhabi. Costa dubbed Ankalaev's performance as boring, and criticized him for getting booed during the fight.
Ankalaev put the blame on Guskov for not willing to engage, and fears Costa would approach him the same. Either way, Ankalaev's manager Abdelaziz thinks a fight against Costa (16-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) makes sense.
"Carlos Ulberg needs to take his time. He's the champion," Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. "I think the fight needs to happen, him and Paulo Costa. Paulo Costa said a lot of reckless things, and you know what? He does a good job to get people's attention – not in a bad way. A lot of a**holes, they say a lot of sh*t and they get bad attention. He's funny. He's witty. He's a good fighter, too.
"Paulo Costa, people think he's a joke. He's a real serious fighter, and I think him and Ankalaev for an interim belt, for a regular fight, doesn't matter. They just need to fight. This is what I want. That's what the UFC wants, too. The UFC offered this fight to Ankalaev three times, and I'm not sure why this fight didn't happen. ... I don't think his chances of winning are very high."
Costa finds himself in the title conversation after just one win at 205 pounds, a TKO of formerly unbeaten Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327 in April.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ali Abdelaziz: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Paulo Costa 'needs to happen'