The knock on Islam Makhachev used to be that he lacked finishing instinct and was susceptible to getting caught. Adriano Martins knocked Makhachev out in Makhachev’s second UFC fight, back in 2015, at UFC 192.
Makhachev quickly patched up some of those defensive holes, and he has not lost since fighting Martins, a streak of 10 consecutive in one of the UFC’s top divisions, lightweight. On top of that, he has stopped his previous four adversaries, the past two — Dan Hooker and Bobby Green, on Saturday — in the first round. Makhachev now has seven finishes in 11 UFC wins. Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev’s longtime training partner and now his coach, had seven finishes in 13 UFC victories before retiring in 2020.
Beneil Dariush was supposed to be the opponent for Makhachev on Saturday, and ESPN has Dariush ranked No. 4 and Makhachev No. 5 in the world at lightweight. It would have been a true No. 1 contender bout, but Dariush broke his leg in training 10 days ago, and Green stepped in as a late replacement. Indeed, it was an unfortunate turn of events, but it was not Makhachev’s fault. He did what he had to by steamrollering Green and finishing him with ground-and-pound in the first.
There’s nowhere else to go now for Makhachev other than the title shot.
He should face the winner of the scheduled matchup between lightweight champion Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 on May 9. With Dariush likely out for an extended period, Makhachev doesn’t have any peers at 155 pounds with his résumé.
The timing works out perfectly too. Makhachev, a devout Muslim, does not fight during Ramadan, which spans from April 2 to May 2 this year. That lines up his return to hard training right along with Oliveira vs. Gaethje.
It remains incredible that two years after Nurmagomedov retired, Makhachev will likely get a shot at the title Nurmagomedov once held. This plan was set forth by Nurmagomedov’s late father, Abdulmanap, who died in 2020 due to COVID-19 complications.
Abdulmanap’s goal was for his son to retire an undefeated champion and for Makhachev to then take the torch and become UFC lightweight champ. That this is on the verge of happening further cements Abdulmanap’s legacy as a coach. And it stays unbelievable that an idea cooked up a decade ago in the mountains of Dagestan could come to fruition here in 2022
