Former champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the lightweight category, Khabib Nurmagomedov, posted a new post on his social media page where he shared a photo from the post-match press conference of the UFC 242 tournament in Abu Dhabi.
In the photo, Nurmagomedov stands next to Russian fighter Islam Makhachev, who will fight Charles Oliveira for the title at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. Note that Khabib also continued his second title defense against Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi.
“He was in Abu Dhabi three years ago. Now we are going to the belt again,” wrote the Russian.
Former UFC Champion Valentina Shevchenko announcedwhy does not consider Makhachev the favorite in the fight against Oliveira.
In the final fight, Makhachev defeated the American Bobby Green at the UFC Fight Night 202 tournament, the Russians won by technical knockout in the first round. Note that Makhachev was originally supposed to fight against Beneil Dariush, but the Iranian-American fighter was wounded. Green promptly agreed to replace Dariusz.
Thus, now Islam Makhachev has 22 victories and one defeat.