Ankalaev says no top-five light heavyweight will fight him, offers to go to heavyweight

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev said on Monday, November 9, that nobody in the division's top five will fight him. He asked whether a heavyweight would take a fight in January instead. He wrote on X:

"Looks like nobody in the top five at light heavyweight wants to fight. Everybody's got a reason."

He then gave a reason for each of three names. Khalil Rountree is "not ready," Dominick Reyes "just fought and is injured," and Paulo Costa "wants $10 million," he wrote. He ended by asking, "So what about heavyweight? Anybody ready to fight? Let's do it in January." He didn't name an opponent, an event or a date.

The UFC needs a main event for UFC Dallas on Saturday, January 16, 2027, at American Airlines Center. It is the UFC's first card of 2027, SB Nation reported. Heavy reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources, that the UFC is targeting Ankalaev to headline it and is trying to book him against Reyes. The UFC hasn't confirmed that, and its event page still lists the main event as TBD vs TBD.

Checking the list

Only one of the three fighters he named is in the top five. In the UFC's current rankings, Ankalaev is No. 1 behind champion Carlos Ulberg. Rountree is No. 4, Costa No. 6 and Reyes No. 7.

The Reyes injury is Ankalaev's claim, and we found no other report of it. Reyes knocked out Azamat Murzakanov in the first round at UFC 333 on October 24, as a +175 underdog according to our page. Afterwards he named Costa and Rountree as his next targets, telling Daniel Cormier "Let's get after it, baby," according to MMA Sucka.

The $10 million figure is also Ankalaev's; Costa's contract terms aren't public. Costa is on the last fight of his deal and wants extra pay for a five-round main event, Sherdog reported. He turned down a short-notice fight with Ankalaev in Abu Dhabi in July, NY Fights reported. Sherdog said no extra pay was offered for the five rounds.

In September Costa said the UFC had turned down his request for an interim title fight and refused to release him, according to NY Fights. Ankalaev replied on X that he was Costa's "get-out-of-jail-free card." Rountree hasn't fought since a TKO loss to Jiri Prochazka in October 2025, and he withdrew injured from the July fight with Ankalaev.

A stalled division

The rest of the top five is tied up. Ulberg won the vacant title by knocking out Prochazka at UFC 327 in April, then tore his ACL, and no return date is set. No. 2 Prochazka and No. 5 Navajo Stirling fight each other in Doha on November 21. No. 3 Alex Pereira is at heavyweight and faces Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on December 12, per NY Fights.

Ankalaev is 21-2-1 with one no-contest, according to Wikipedia. He took the title from Pereira by unanimous decision at UFC 313 in March 2025, as a +107 underdog on our page. He lost it back by first-round TKO at UFC 320 that October after closing at -263. His last fight was a fifth-round TKO of Bogdan Guskov, a late replacement for Rountree, in Abu Dhabi on July 25.

He closed at -556 against Guskov. He has won 9 of his 10 UFC fights with closing odds, and a one-unit bet on him every time would be up 1.93 units. That is a historical result at closing prices, not a forecast.

We think his complaint holds up better than his list. The one top-five fighter he named hasn't fought in over a year, and the rest of the top five are injured (Ulberg), booked (Prochazka, Stirling) or at heavyweight (Pereira). The Prochazka-Stirling winner would be an obvious opponent, but January 16 is only eight weeks after that fight.

As of Monday night, no heavyweight had answered the callout and the UFC hadn't commented.