Celebrating his undisputed UFC lightweight title victory over former titleholder, Charles Oliveira over the course of the weekend, newly minted kingpin, Islam Makhachev shared his success alongside his father, as well as the Head of the Republic of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov.
Taking main event status at UFC 280 last Saturday in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Makhachev managed to land American Kickboxing Academy their second undisputed UFC lightweight crown courtesy of a second round arm-triangle submission win over Oliveira – following in the footsteps of coach and teammate, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Islam Makhachev returned to his native Dagestan for a championship parade
Embarking on a parade in his native Dagestan, Islam Makhachev met with his father as well as the aforenoted Head of the Republic, Melikov – as a large crowd gather to congratulate the new undisputed UFC lightweight gold holder.
“Salam Alaikum everybody,” islam Makhachev said. “I’d like to thank everybody who came here to greet and support me. Later we will eat together. There we can talk and take pictures.
Off the back of his dominant title success against Sao Paulo grappler, Oliveira, Makhachev already appears to have the first challenger to his undisputed lightweight crown on the horizon, in the form of undisputed featherweight best, Alexander Volkanovski.
Joining Makhachev in the Octagon following his title success, the pair appeared to agree on a champion versus champion clash at UFC 284 next February in Perth, Australia – with the organization slated to return to the RAC Arena.
Providing a prediction for the fight with Volkanovski, Makhachev’s coach and training partner, Khabib touted his student and teammate to land another submission win as part of a streaking run at 155lbs.
“Let him prepare this,” Khabib Nurmagomedov said. “Clinch wrestling, like freestyle wrestling, Greco Roman. Grappling, Thai clinch, left hand. (Alexander) Volkanovski, we respect you, but we’re gonna take your place, brother.”
“You are pound-for-pund number one right now, but Islam (Makhachev) want to be on your side,” Khabib said. “You have to prepare. Clinch, lot of knees. He’s gonna eat a lot of knees. He’s gonna take all his energy, take him down, and he’s gonna choke him out. This is what I think. This is the way how I see how’s fight gonna go.”