Forever staking his claim for a move to the welterweight limit prior to his friend, Belal Muhammad’s title coronation at UFC 304 earlier this month, lightweight best, Islam Makhachev has now been backed to excel as high as middleweight, per his coach, Javier Mendez.
Makhachev, the current undisputed lightweight champion, has been sidelined since he headlined UFC 302 back in May, successfully defending his crown for a third time in a fifth round D’Arce choke submission win against former interim gold holder, Dustin Poirier.
And expected to return at UFC 308 in October in Abu Dhabi, Makhachev has been ruled from the event amid an arm injury, which may require a surgical procedure to address – postponing an targeted rematch with number one contender, Arman Tsarukyan.
Instead booked to headline the Etihad Arena card – undisputed featherweight kingpin, Ilia Topuria draws the former champion, Max Holloway in a title grudge fight in the Middle East.
Islam Makhachev tipped to make middleweight leap
And while calling for a title fight with Leon Edwards ahead of UFC 304, Islam Makhachev has since cooled talk of a leap to 170lbs after his close friend, Muhammad lifted the crown in Manchester – and instead, has been tipped to succeed at middleweight in a huge two-division leap.
“That’s a good reason to fight Arman (Tsarukyan) or anybody else any you get the most defenses in the lightweight history,” Javier Mendez told Red Corner MMA. “I can’t believe three is the record. That’s just amazing how it turns over. So many fighters have won titles there but they never kept it more than three title defenses so Islam (Makhachev) will break the record and I want to see him go down as one of the greatest of all time.”
“And I believe he’s on track to do that,” Mendez explained. “So, him defending that lightweight title is on track for that. Then after that let’s see what happens – maybe Islam gains weight and goes [to] 185 [pounds]. I mean, he’d have to gain weight, obviously, because that’s a little big for him. You never know. He’s that good. Pound-for-pound number one for a reason.”
Do you think Islam Makhachev could excel at middleweight?