Cuțelaba faced Magomed Ankalaev on February 29, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 169.

[27] He lost the fight

controversially via TKO in the first round.[28] The loss was controversial as referee Kevin MacDonald
stopped the bout believing Cuțelaba was out on his feet while still standing, which Cuțelaba
immediately protested. The stoppage was universally deemed terrible by the event announcers,
MMA pundits, and UFC fighters alike. [29][30][31][32][33] Subsequently, the Virginia athletic commission
reviewed the controversial stoppage, denying the appeal thus resulting the technical knockout win
for Ankalaev left standing.[34][35][36]
Due to the controversy of the stoppage, UFC rebooked the pair on April 18, 2020 to meet at UFC
249.[37] However, Ankalaev was forced to pull from the event due to COVID-19 pandemic travel
restriction, and Cuțelaba was pulled from the event and was scheduled to face Ovince Saint
Preux on April 25, 2020.[38] However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that
this event was postponed to a future date[39] The rematch with Ankalaev was expected to take place
on August 15, 2020 at UFC 252.[40] Cuțelaba then pulled out on August 11 after testing positive for
COVID-19 and the bout was rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 175.[41] However, the day of the event,
the bout was once again scrapped after Cuțelaba tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time.
[42]
 The bout rescheduled for the third time and they met on October 24, 2020 at UFC 254.[43] Cuțelaba
lost the fight via knockout in round one. [44]