American journalist Ariel Helwani on her podcast MMA Time believes that the champion of the Absolute Fighting Championship (UFC) in the lightweight category has not reached the level of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who previously held the belt of the left division.
“Makhachev is not as good as Khabib. During the 26th fight, Khabib was more perfect. We are all hopeful for Islam, we hand over the flag from Habib to him, because we want to see the continuation of the dynasty. But it is not, Islam is not like that. Khabib was never knocked out by Adriano Martins, Khabib was never defeated in the fifth round.
On February 12, Makhachev defeated Alexander Volkanovski by unanimous decision after five rounds at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia.
This victory for the Russian took the 24th place in his professional career with a loss. He defended his lightweight title for the first time.
On October 22, Mahachev met Brazilian Charles Oliveira in the lightweight title fight at the UFC-280 tournament in Abu Dhabi. The Russian fighter won the second round with a suffocating grip.
formerly Makhachev reacted Accusations of using drops before the fight with Volkanovsky.