Magomed Ankalaev vs. Anthony Smith – Preview & Matchup Analysis

UFC 277: Pena vs. Nunes 2 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 30, 2022, in Dallas, Texas, USA. In one of the matchups on the fight card, Magomed Ankalaev will take on Anthony “Lionheart” Smith in the Light Heavyweight Bout. You can view the full UFC 277 card.

In this post, we will break down Magomed Ankalaev vs. Anthony Smith matchup. Let’s take look at the fighter’s ages, their height, records, reach, fight stats, and more below ⤵

The 31-year-old, Magomed Ankalaev is coming in with a 17-1-0 record. Ankalaev will be fighting for the first time since a win via unanimous decision against Thiago Santos at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev in March.

Smith, meanwhile, is coming off a submission win against Ryan Spann on March 12, 2022 at UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Spann and holds a 36-16-0 record.

Magomed Ankalaev has an orthodox fighting stance with a 75″ reach. The 35-year-old, Anthony Smith is an orthodox fighter with a 76″ reach. An orthodox fighter stands with their left side forward and jabs with their left hand, the southpaw fighter is the opposite, southpaw stands with their right side forward and jabs with their right hand. In most cases, orthodox fighters are right-handed, if you are left-handed, then you fight southpaw.

Magomed Ankalaev:
→ Ankalaev’s striking accuracy is 54%.
→ Ankalaev lands 3.49 significant strikes per minute.
→ Ankalaev’s takedown accuracy is 33%.
→ Ankalaev’s takedown average is 1.01 per 15 minutes.
→ Ankalaev’s takedown defense is 85%.

Ankalaev comes in with 54% striking accuracy, typically landing about 3.49 significant strikes every minute. On the other side, Smith fires at 47% accuracy, landing about 3.03 significant strikes per minute. Magomed Ankalaev also has a 33% takedown accuracy and on average gets around 1.01 takedowns every 15 minutes, compared to Smith’s 0.46 takedowns and 48% takedown accuracy.

Anthony Smith:
→ Smith’s striking accuracy is 47%.
→ Smith lands 3.03 significant strikes per minute.
→ Smith’s takedown accuracy is 28%.
→ Smith’s takedown average is 0.46 per 15 minutes.
→ Smith’s takedown defense is 48%.

Anthony spent on average 9:31 minutes in the Octagon and Magomed has an average fight time of 11:30 minutes.

This looks like an fun matchup, at least on paper. UFC 277 is live in , who do you think will win, Magomed or Anthony? Sound off in the comments.

You can view the scheduled UFC 277 fight card, upcoming UFC schedule 2021, and latest MMA news.