{"id":445371,"date":"2022-05-04T10:04:09","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T17:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=445371"},"modified":"2022-05-04T10:04:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T17:04:09","slug":"anthony-smith-set-to-return-at-ufc-277-opposite-magomed-ankalaev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/anthony-smith-set-to-return-at-ufc-277-opposite-magomed-ankalaev\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Smith set to return at UFC 277 opposite Magomed Ankalaev"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Smith is set to return to the Octagon at UFC 277 opposite Magomed Ankalaev.<\/p>\n

The two fighters have agreed to meet on July 30, 2022 at UFC 277 for a potential No. 1 contender\u2019s bout for the light heavyweight division.<\/p>\n

Multiple insiders with knowledge of the promotion’s plan have confirmed the news (first reported by MMAJunkie<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Smith, 33, (36-16 MMA) is coming off an impressive three wins in a row, the latest against Ryan Spann (19-7 MMA) in September of 2021. Smith was awarded the \u2018Performance of the Night\u2019 title following that match-up.<\/p>\n

It was just last month that Anthony Smith gave his thoughts on Magomed Ankalaev when speaking on ‘The Fighter vs. the writer’ on YouTube saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not the boogeyman that everyone keeps talking about. I\u2019ve been saying that for a long time. Is he good? One hundred percent! He\u2019s solid, he doesn\u2019t make a lot of mistakes, he doesn\u2019t have any glaring holes in his game at all, but he\u2019s not the boogeyman that everyone made him out to be. People have been saying, \u2018Anthony\u2019s ducking him.\u2019 I\u2019m not ducking that dude, come on. I\u2019ve got 50 something fights. I\u2019m not ducking anybody. I\u2019m just not singing his praises because I\u2019m not that impressed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ankalaev, 29, (17-1 MMA) boasts a current record of eight wins in a row, the latest against Thiago Santos<\/a> (22-10) this past March.<\/p>\n

Following the win against Santos, Ankalaev had this to say at the post-fight press conference:<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I\u2019m not glad with my performance totally, because I expected him to make an entertaining fight, to strike more, but it is what it is. In my opinion, I deserve the title shot next. Because I am on an eight-fight winning streak and some of the fights I finished the guys, and I feel I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Magomed Ankalaev will face his biggest test to date when he gets into the cage with Anthony Smith this summer. The Russian fighters only loss was against Paul Craig (16-4 MMA) back in March of 2018.<\/p>\n

‘Lionheart’ will try to put himself back into the race for the light heavyweight title when he clashes with Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 277.<\/p>\n

Are you looking forward to Anthony Smith vs Magomed Ankalaev this summer? Who will be your pick to win?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anthony Smith is set to return to the Octagon at UFC 277 opposite Magomed Ankalaev. The two fighters have agreed to meet on July 30, 2022 at UFC 277 for a potential No. 1 contender\u2019s bout for the light heavyweight division. Multiple insiders with knowledge of the promotion’s plan have confirmed the news (first reported […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54491,"featured_media":359882,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[39522,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnthony Smith set to return at UFC 277 opposite Magomed Ankalaev | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith is set to return to the Octagon at UFC 277 opposite Magomed Ankalaev.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/anthony-smith-set-to-return-at-ufc-277-opposite-magomed-ankalaev\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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