O'Malley, Ankalaev top list of ex-champs eyed for title runs

Sean O'Malley and Magomed Ankalaev lead a group of eight former UFC champions with the strongest odds of returning to title contention, according to an ESPN analysis published ahead of this weekend's Abu Dhabi card.

Brett Okamoto projects O'Malley at 89 percent to secure another bantamweight title shot, the highest mark among former male titleholders examined. Ankalaev follows at 88 percent despite coming off a first-round knockout loss to Alex Pereira last October. The heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight fights Bogdan Guskov on Saturday in the UFC Fight Night main event.

Former champions at middleweight and above face age and depth questions

Dricus du Plessis sits at 85 percent after defeating Kamaru Usman in a five-round decision last weekend in Oklahoma City. Zhang Weili tops the list at 93 percent among all fighters analyzed. Pereira, now competing at heavyweight, checks in at 75 percent despite being 39 years old — a figure Okamoto attributes to the division favouring older fighters with power.

Usman carries the lowest projection at 25 percent. Age works against the former welterweight king, who would need a ranked win at middleweight and some fortune to climb back into contention. Charles Oliveira lands at 50 percent, described as a win away from a title shot but also a loss away from irrelevance in a stacked lightweight class.

Jack Della Maddalena received a 71 percent mark in the original report. Ankalaev and du Plessis compete in UFC events this month, with Ankalaev's performance against Guskov expected to clarify his path back to Carlos Ulberg or a potential Pereira trilogy.

Source: espn.com