Magomed Ankalaev says nobody in top five 'wants to fight', calls out heavyweights for January

The UFC's No. 1 light heavyweight says Paulo Costa wants $10 million, Dominick Reyes is injured and Khalil Rountree Jr. is not ready.

Magomed Ankalaev says nobody in the UFC's light heavyweight top five will fight him, and he is now looking for an opponent at heavyweight.

"Looks like nobody in the top five at light heavyweight wants to fight," Ankalaev wrote on X on Monday. "Everybody's got a reason. Khalil Rountree not ready, Reyes just fought and is injured. Costa wants $10 million." He added: "So what about heavyweight? Anybody ready to fight? Let's do it in January."

Ankalaev is ranked No. 1 at light heavyweight by the UFC, behind champion Carlos Ulberg. The former champion stopped Bogdan Guskov in the fifth round in Abu Dhabi on 25 July, his first fight since Alex Pereira knocked him out in their immediate rematch just over a year ago.

Jiri Prochazka, ranked No. 2, faces Navajo Stirling at UFC Qatar on 21 November, while Rountree, Costa and Reyes are unbooked. Pereira has moved up to heavyweight and faces Sergei Pavlovich in the UFC 335 co-main event on 12 December.

Ankalaev has previously said he would be open to a trilogy with Pereira at heavyweight, after the pair split their two fights at 205 pounds. He has also said the UFC put Dricus du Plessis forward as a possible opponent at light heavyweight, but du Plessis has said he wants to win back the middleweight title first.

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