Islam Makhachev, by any metric, is among the best fighters to step contained in the UFC’s famed Octagon, however whereas there was a rush to anoint the Russian star as the best of all time after he surpassed the legendary Anderson Silva’s consecutive UFC wins report, it looks like the subsequent chapter of his profession would be the figuring out think about whether or not he’s in the end thought-about the perfect to ever do it.
Let me make it clear from the get-go – that is no criticism of Makhachev himself. He’s clearly a staggeringly gifted fighter and, for me, the very fact he appears to make all of it look so simple solely enhances his greatness within the sport. His command of the basics throughout each side of the sport, and his capacity to implement them throughout the white-hot warmth of a UFC title combat, is actually outstanding.
However the factor that may actually separate him from the remainder, together with Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, and his buddy, mentor and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov, will probably be what occurs subsequent.
As light-weight champion, Makhachev was dominant. He captured the belt with an excellent end of Charles Oliveira at UFC 280, then defended it 4 instances. However on nearer inspection there are some unavoidable information that must be thought-about.
Two of these wins got here towards present featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, in fights the place Makhachev entered the bout with a big dimension benefit. His win over Dustin Poirier noticed him face a legit 155er, whereas his fourth title protection was a short-notice win over Renato Moicano who, most would agree, wasn’t fairly at title combat degree, and definitely wasn’t prepared for Makhachev’s caliber.
So, it could possibly be argued that Makhachev’s title reign solely noticed him defend his title towards a legit title-ready 155-pounder. However any query of him being boosted by advantageous matchups went out the window when he made the transfer as much as welterweight.
In brief, the actual exams begin now, and it’s going to be vastly thrilling to see how Makhachev fares.
It looks like Makhachev is now in his optimum weight class. However, whereas from a physiological standpoint he may be in the perfect place, these bodily advantages additionally include considerably extra harmful bodily challenges.
Now, after being a large light-weight, he’s a mid-sized welterweight, the place he’ll come up towards contenders who’re larger, stronger, and hit tougher than anybody he’s confronted earlier than.
On Saturday night time at UFC 330, Makhachev confronted arguably probably the most cerebral contender within the 170-pound division in Ian Machado Garry. The Irishman’s psychological energy, and bulletproof confidence ensured he confronted all the things Makhachev threw at him with full calmness and composure.
The one factor lacking from Machado Garry was the killer intuition wanted to knock Makhachev out of his consolation zone, however that probably received’t be lacking from the arsenals of the 2 fighters who’re vying to be subsequent as much as problem the Russian – Carlos Prates and Michael Morales.
Prates is listed at No. 1 within the Meta UFC Rankings, and is prone to be subsequent up. Killer intuition definitely isn’t one thing in brief provide for the Brazilian, whereas the fearless Morales’ bodily presents imply he would possibly simply be probably the most harmful menace to Makhachev’s title reign.
Makhachev has already handed the Ian Machado Garry take a look at – and he may be requested to move it once more, in time – however with the likes of Prates and Morales ready within the wings, plus surging contenders like Uros Medic and Yaroslav Amosov trying to break into competition, too, there will probably be no scarcity of harmful opponents for Makhachev to get previous if he’s to totally cement himself as the best of all time. For my part, victories over these 4 would make him undeniably the perfect combined martial artist ever.
