Rakic (14-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) takes on streaking top contender Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) in a pivotal light heavyweight clash Oct. 26 at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
Ankalaev was passed up for a title shot after the promotion paired light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) with Khalil Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the UFC 307 headliner Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City. Sonnen thinks Rakic is more than capable of stealing Ankalaev’s thunder, even though he’s coming off a knockout loss to Jiri Prochazka at UFC 300.
“You’ve got Ankalaev, clearly the No. 1 contender, at least according to you guys,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “And you know what? I do have a little bit of a problem with that. It’s not a huge problem, but I do have just a little one, which is Rakic is that damn good. You’ve got to understand: Rakic did not get a world title fight – well neither did Ankalaev, but Rakic did find himself in the next best thing.
“He’s in a No. 1 contender’s match. That is quite literally the next best thing that you could get to a title fight, and he found himself there coming off of a loss. As a matter of fact, he found himself there coming off of a stoppage loss. As a matter of fact, finding himself in this spot actually moves him in front of the guy that he suffered the loss to in Prochazka.”
Rakic had returned from an almost two year-long layoff due to injury when he faced Prochazka this past April. He was able to wobble Prochazka on numerous occasions but was ultimately overwhelmed and stopped. Sonnen thinks ring rust and cardio likely played a factor in his loss.
“I’m only telling you this because that’s how good Rakic is, and a lot of people have forgot,” Sonnen continued. “Rakic looked good the night he lost to Prochazka, but he looked like a guy who had been out for a minute of time. His conditioning wasn’t going to be right where he wants it, and there was no way to manufacture that.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
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