Tag: Islam Makhachev

Islam Makhachev Calls For Tony Ferguson ‘Dream Fight’ Following UFC 259 Win

MakhachevIslam Makhachev wants Tony Ferguson next. Makhachev enjoyed a dominant third-round submission win over Drew Dober on the main card of the UFC 259 pay-per-view event on Saturday night. It put him on a seven-fight winning streak as there is no doubt that he deserves a top lightweight contender for his next outing. The Dagestan […]

Makhachev

Islam Makhachev wants Tony Ferguson next.

Makhachev enjoyed a dominant third-round submission win over Drew Dober on the main card of the UFC 259 pay-per-view event on Saturday night.

It put him on a seven-fight winning streak as there is no doubt that he deserves a top lightweight contender for his next outing. The Dagestan native went a step further by earmarking one fighter in particular — Ferguson.

“My dream fight is Tony Ferguson,” Makhachev said after his win. “That’s my dream fight. I just want to make him retire. He talks too much.

“Khabib is retired, now he keeps pressuring him, for what? I’m here, I have a 7-fight win streak, make this happen.”

Ferguson, of course, is on a two-fight losing streak but was previously on a 12-fight winning streak and was slated to fight Nurmagomedov in a dream contest five times only for it to fail to come to fruition all five times.

Perhaps the next best option is to have him face who many believe to be the successor to the now-retired Nurmagomedov in Makhachev.

UFC president Dana White is seemingly a fan of the idea as well.

Do you want to see Ferguson vs. Makhachev next?

Islam Makhachev Grabs Arm-Triangle Win Over Drew Dober – UFC 259 Highlights

Islam MakhachevDominance. The only real way to describe American Kickboxing Academy product, Islam Makhachev’s arm-triangle victory over Drew Dober — extending his undefeated streak to seven straight fights. Returning for the first time since UFC 242 in September of 2019, Makhachev returned against Elevation Fight Team mainstay, Dober — utilising his wreslting and offensive grappling, at […]

Islam Makhachev

Dominance. The only real way to describe American Kickboxing Academy product, Islam Makhachev’s arm-triangle victory over Drew Dober — extending his undefeated streak to seven straight fights.

Returning for the first time since UFC 242 in September of 2019, Makhachev returned against Elevation Fight Team mainstay, Dober — utilising his wreslting and offensive grappling, at the command of teammate and undisputed lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Grabbing a single-leg in the center of the Octagon in the opening round, the Russian remained composed and patient in half-guard, before scrambling with an attempted armbar, with Dober gritting his teeth to survive to the second round.

Likely scoring a 10-8 round in the second, Makhachev scored an incredible outside trip, sending Dober to the canvas with a considerable impact at the fence. In the third — it was more of the same for the AKA trainee, With Dober forced to his back once again. Assuming half guard, Makhachev eventually secured an arm-triangle — forcing Eliot Marshall product, Dober to tap — snapping his three-fight streak.

Below, check out the highlights from Makhachev’s submission win over Dober.

Islam Makhachev Taps Drew Dober After Dominant Performance – UFC 259 Results

Makhachev DoberNext up on the UFC 259 main card is a lightweight tilt between Islam Makhachev and Drew Dober. Round 1: Dober opens with a couple of leg kicks. Makhachev grabs a single and gets Dober down just over a minute in. Makhachev is in the half guard as he lands some strikes from the tops. […]

Makhachev Dober

Next up on the UFC 259 main card is a lightweight tilt between Islam Makhachev and Drew Dober.

Round 1: Dober opens with a couple of leg kicks. Makhachev grabs a single and gets Dober down just over a minute in. Makhachev is in the half guard as he lands some strikes from the tops. Makhachev gets into full mount but Dober gets him back to half guard. passes to side control. Dober scrambles but can’t escape as Makhachev takes his back. Makhachev quickly transitions to an armbar but Dober survives until the end of the round.

Round 2: Makhachev takes Dober down right away to start the second round. Dober posts up but can’t escape as Makhachev continues to put pressure and keep him down. Dober is stuck at full guard as Makhachev continues to control him and land strikes from the top. Utter domination from the Dagestan native who might have got a 10-8 round though there wasn’t much damage.

Round 3: A repeat of the first two as Makhachev gets Dober down again though the latter may have pulled guard this time. Makhachev starts to get aggressive with the ground and pound as Dober looks to land strikes from the bottom. Dober threatens with a kimura but loses it. Makhachev submits him with shoulder pressure soon after!

Official result: Islam Makhachev defeats Drew Dober via submission (R3, ).

Drew Dober Knows He’ll Be On His Back Against Islam Makhachev But Expects KO Win

Dober MackhachevDrew Dober knows he’ll get taken down against Islam Makhachev — but doesn’t seem to mind too much. Dober takes on Makhachev in an intriguing lightweight encounter on the main card of the UFC 259 pay-per-view event on Saturday night. Makhachev had been struggling to land opponents as he has long complained of being ducked […]

Dober Mackhachev

Drew Dober knows he’ll get taken down against Islam Makhachev — but doesn’t seem to mind too much.

Dober takes on Makhachev in an intriguing lightweight encounter on the main card of the UFC 259 pay-per-view event on Saturday night.

Makhachev had been struggling to land opponents as he has long complained of being ducked by just about every fighter matched up with him while the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t help either. He will now be competing for the first time since September 2019.

But as far as Dober is concerned, the Dagestan native was on his radar since 2017 and was a fight he voluntarily asked for.

“In all honesty, I think he is a hard person to find a fight for,” Dober told BJ Penn.com. “Not a lot of people want to fight Islam. He has all that hype around him. He has been on my radar since 2017. I’ve been eager to compete with him. They were looking for a fight for Islam and I raised my hand, that I would definitely fight him. It is a great matchup.”

Makhachev is undefeated in his last six outings as he has dominated his opponents throughout with his wrestling. Dober, meanwhile, is on a three-fight winning streak with knockouts in all of those encounters.

It’s clearly a striker vs. grappler matchup, and Dober knows he’ll eventually be on his back at some point. However, he will be prepared for that scenario.

“Absolutely. You can’t completely avoid a takedown,” Dober explained. “It will be a wrestling match with punches, I know I will be on my back at some point. I’m fully prepared for this fight to be a grappling match and I can’t avoid that.

“I’m just trying to make his life uncomfortable for the 15 minutes we are in there. Whether it is with my hands or feet, or my wrestling or my jiu-jitsu, my goal is to make him comfortable and make him make a mistake.”

As for how the fight eventually plays out? Dober expects to get his fourth knockout win in a row.

“Honestly, I love getting the knockout wins for everyone so that is Plan A,” Dober added. “I see myself finding his chin.”

Who do you think wins?

Khabib Nurmagomedov Ready To Move On From Sports, ‘Live For Myself’

Khabib NurmagomedovThe saga of Khabib Nurmagomedov continues, as he once again claims to be done with competing. The UFC lightweight champion has been adamant that his fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 will go down as the last on his record. Despite that, UFC president Dana White has refused to take the title off of […]

Khabib Nurmagomedov

The saga of Khabib Nurmagomedov continues, as he once again claims to be done with competing.

The UFC lightweight champion has been adamant that his fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 will go down as the last on his record. Despite that, UFC president Dana White has refused to take the title off of him, believing he can convince Nurmagomedov to come back for one last fight. In an interview with Esquire Middle East – which features ‘The Eagle’ on the cover of their March issue – Nurmagomedov made it clear he’s happy in retirement.

“Every day I woke up in the morning and started training, and in the evening my body was exhausted, because I had brought it to the limit,” Nurmagomedov said. “I just want to live a life in which I can get at least a little sleep before lunchtime, to live for myself and not devote myself 100 percent to sports.”

A large part of Nurmagomedov’s decision to call it a career had to do with his belief that he has nothing left to accomplish in the sport. After debuting in 2008, the Dagestani fighter ran up a perfect 29-0 record. He picked up victories over some of the best MMA has to offer in Gaethje, Conor McGregor, and Dustin Poirier. Feeling as though there is no one left that offers him a challenge, he is ready to step aside and help his teammates accomplish their goals.

“Now that I’m not going to train any more, I have people close to me—brothers and friends—who are now fighting at the highest level,” Nurmagomedov said. “There are about five or six people who we are building the path with, and I will help them, train with them, share my experiences. . . To some extent, this can be called a coaching life, but I am not going to fully enter into coaching. I will always be there and share my experience.”

Perhaps the most prominent of his “brothers and friends” is rising lightweight contender Islam Makhachev. The longtime friend and training partner of Nurmagomedov is on a 6-fight winning streak, and 7-1 in the UFC overall. The 29-year old will have a massive opportunity to further his place in the lightweight standings when he takes on Drew Dober on the PPV portion of this weekends stacked UFC 259. AKA head coach Javier Mendez has dubbed Makhachev as the heir apparent to the lightweight throne, and Nurmagomedov agrees that it is his time to shine (H/T MMA Fighting).

“Now, everybody talks about Dustin (Poirier), Conor (McGregor), (Michael) Chandler, Justin (Gaethje), (Charles) Oliveira,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN in a separate interview. “But by the end of the year, it’s gonna be changed. I don’t think anyone can beat (Makhachev) right now. He will run (the division).”

Do you think Khabib Nurmagomedov will stay retired? Will Islam Makhachev become the lightweight champion?

Javier Mendez: Islam Makhachev Has All The Tools To Be The Next UFC Lightweight Champion

MakhachevAmerican Kickboxing Academy leader, Javier Mendez has already produced one UFC lightweight champion hailing from Russian in the form of current pacesetter, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and he now claims Khabib’s compatriot, Islam Makhachev is waiting in ‘The Eagle’s’ wings — capable of becoming the next lightweight titleholder. Scheduled to make his long-anticipated Octagon return, the streaking […]

Makhachev

American Kickboxing Academy leader, Javier Mendez has already produced one UFC lightweight champion hailing from Russian in the form of current pacesetter, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and he now claims Khabib’s compatriot, Islam Makhachev is waiting in ‘The Eagle’s’ wings — capable of becoming the next lightweight titleholder.

Scheduled to make his long-anticipated Octagon return, the streaking Makhachev draws fellow surging contender, Drew Dober at UFC 259 in two week’s time, slated to make his first UFC walk since September of 2019 at UFC 242. 

Makhachev was slated to headline a UFC Vegas 14 event in November against former lightweight champion, Rafael dos Anjos — with the matchup shelved for a second time after the former was stricken with a staph infection. Niteroi native, dos Anjos would go on to lodge a split decision win over short-notice replacement, Paul Felder at the event.

The 29-year-old has amassed a six-fight winning spree since his knockout loss to Adriano Martins at UFC 192 in October of 2015, and according to renowned head coach, Mendez, Makchaev has “all the tools” to score lightweight gold next.

“Well, I wouldn’t call him (Islam Makhachev) the next Khabib (Nurmagomedov), I’d just call him the next Islam — which to me is the next champ,” Mendez said during a recent interview with Mike Swick on the Real Quick with Mike Swick show. “I think he has all the tools to be the next lightweight champion. And it’s just a matter of getting by Drew Dober which is no easy task.“

“Drew’s ranked higher in the rankings (than Makhachev),” Mendez said. “You know, he’s not ranked lower which he should be ranked lower cause he’s really that good. But for us, beating a Drew Dober which we’re planning on doing, is not gonna do a great deal for us, only because Drew’s ranking is too high.“

Failing to secure another rebooking against dos Anjos, Mendez maintains an outing and victory over the former division gold holder would’ve benefited Makhachev more than a victory over Dober — predicting he would’ve earned the #7 rank at 155-pounds.

“If we would’ve got RDA (Rafael dos Anjos) as was originally scheduled, that would’ve been a good one, because then they (the ranking committee) would’ve put him in the top-ten at least, I would say top-seven for damn sure if he had of beat RDA — which I believe he would’ve.“

Entering his March 6th. outing against Dober riding a six-fight winning streak, Makhachev has taken decision wins over Chris Wade, Nik Lentz, fellow prospect, Arman Tsakuryan, and Davi Ramos, as well as an armbar win over Kajan Johnson and a knockout of Gleison Tibau. 

Elevation Fight Team mainstay, Dober is enjoying a rich vein of form as well — scoring a trio of knockout victories over Marco Polo Reyes, the highly-touted, Nasrat Haqparast, as well as a UFC Fight Night Jacksonville stoppage of Alexander Hernandez last May.