In June of this year, Islam Makhachev successfully defended his UFC lightweight title by strangling Dustin Poirier in the fifth round. For the Russian, this was the third defense of the belt, and he repeated the division record in this indicator.
After this fight, Dana White said that Makhachev’s rematch with Arman Tsarukyan is the fight that makes sense now. By default, everyone decided that the next time we will see Islam will be at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. This was logical, Makhachev became the headliner of the last two numbered events in the UAE, he became the main star there and the sheikhs, of course, would want to see him again on their territory.
It is true that later it turned out that Makhachev injured his hand in the fight with Poirier and has not yet returned to full training, and if so, then he will not fight in October:
“We recently had an MRI. And they confirmed that there was a partial ligament tear. Let’s see… If I can’t restore it, I might even have to have surgery. UFC 308? Questionable. We haven’t talked about the fight yet. I’m doing rehabilitation every day now. Let’s see how the hand is. I’m looking forward to performing before the end of the year. I didn’t think I wouldn’t perform. But I want to get in shape, prepare so that nothing bothers me. Before the last fight, there were also a lot of minor injuries, somehow everything piled up and I want to let the body recover. But I train, I keep fit, about 40-50 percent. Let’s see what happens.”
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At that time, there was still no agreement on the possibility of Islam speaking in December. Arman Tsarukyan said that there was indeed talk of a fight at the end of the year. Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez spoiled everything: “I’m waiting for Islam to recover. I don’t think his arm has recovered yet. As far as I know, he’s not training now. That’s why I don’t think this fight will take place in December. It’s possible, but I don’t see it. Most likely it will take place in January or February. However, I don’t think it will be in December, my hand hasn’t recovered yet.”
Tsarukyan has already confirmed that we should prepare for the beginning of the year. Why does it make no sense for Islam to force restoration? There is already a main event at UFC 308, Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will fight at UFC 309, and the number one P4P is unlikely to want to fight in the co-main event of the evening, and at UFC 310 they will. He will definitely try to pull Conor McGregor out of oblivion. Of course, in this case Islam will not take that place.
Islam Makhachev
Photo: Cooper Neill/Getty Images
And the situation in the division is such that there is no one behind Tsarukyan. In theory there is only Dan Hooker, but he definitely needs a fight with someone above him to become a contender. All the others who are in the top 5 are coming after defeats, it is very strange to consider them as contenders. Makhachev has time to calmly recover and not set back the division.
And there is another reason to wait and evaluate the situation. Now there is a new champion in the welterweight division – Belal Muhammad. It had already been agreed that in this case Makhachev would not lift 77 kg, as he did not want to fight his friend. But Belal could well get a fight in December, as he himself stated. And the opponent could be the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov, who finished off everyone during his professional career. The fighters are already actively practicing trash talk through social networks.
Belal is an unexpected champion:
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Makhachev should wait for the outcome of this plot and not rush anywhere. Rakhmonov, for example, is not against fighting Islam, so there will no longer be any obstacles to the implementation of his plan to move up to welterweight. The ideal scenario for the Russian is that Rakhmonov becomes champion in December, and Islam defends the title in January or February (after Ramadan, Makhachev will have no fights). Then, in June-July they meet. From the point of view of Makhachev’s ambitions, this is a logical development of events, because he has long been talking about moving up to welterweight. Belal’s championship delayed this, but it is unlikely to put an end to the idea completely.
In fact, Islam could very well skip the defense with Tsarukyan and simply counter with Rakhmonov in the summer. But for the sake of history, it would be better to set a record for lightweight defenses and then move up in search of a second belt.
In any case, we now have to wait for Makhachev to return to full training. If he cannot do this before October, we may not see the Russian champion in the octagon until the summer. Islam will then have to closely monitor the situation in the welterweight division and, if an opportunity arises, he will immediately take advantage of it.
