Since emerging as an elite competitor in the UFC, Islam Makhachev has had to face countless comparisons of his fighting style to that of his mentor in the sport, Khabib Nurmagomedov. Like Khabib, Islam Makhachev has the elite fighter as his flagship. However, unlike ‘The Eagle,’ his pupil also shows a lot of ingenuity and destructive power when he stands up to punch.
Because of the increased reach inside the octagon, some fans and athletes consider the Russian to be an improved version of what Nurmagomedov was. According to Luke Rockhold, they call Islam ‘Khabib 2.o’ at AKA because of his striking prowess. However, this difference in fight mentality is what often causes slight rifts between the two. That’s not just saying that; in fact, Islam Makhachev recently revealed how Khabib Nurmagomedov wanted to leave his camp ahead of UFC 311. During the press conference ahead of the much-awaited event, Makhachev revealed that during one of his sparring sessions with Tagir Ulanbekov, Makhachev was so occupied with his ideas that he wasn’t listening to Nurmagomedov.
This led the former lightweight champion to warn Makhachev that if he didn’t listen to him, ‘The Eagle’ would leave, and the reigning lightweight champion would be left to fend for himself at UFC 311. Revealing what Khabib Nurmagomedov exactly told him, Makhachev said, “When the training finish, Khabib told me ‘I have my family, I have like job, I have everything. I can leave from here. If you don’t want to listen me, I can leave. But if you want to be I’m here, training with you, you have to listen my advice
He further added, “Because some of the thing you don’t understand in this. In the fight you know. Because if somebody pressure you, keep you in the cage, you gonna lose the round you know. I always listen my corners you know. Because they saw fight, they know who is win. Which round you lose, which round you won you know. That’s why you always listen your corners.’”
It looks like ‘The Eagle’ wants Islam Makhachev to follow his instructions by heart. However, the reason the reigning lightweight champion often disobeys may be because he does not want to be seen as the second Khabib Nurmagomedov. In fact, the constant questioning and comparisons might affect him negatively, as Daniel Cormier once revealed.
In an interview with the ‘XTRA MMA’ channel, Daniel Cormier praised the recent achievements of Islam, who, like Khabib in the past, won the lightweight belt (155 lbs) and has already defended it three times. Despite his dominance in one of the UFC’s most competitive categories, Makhachev’s credentials are constantly called into question by finding himself in unfavorable situations during some of his most recent matchups, a rare occurrence in ‘The Eagle’s’ career.
Speaking about Islam Makhachev’s fight against Dustin Poirier, Daniel Cormier said that he believes the lightweight champion fought well. Even if he didn’t finish the fight, he would have won that fight by at least four rounds to one. That’s a pretty dominant performance from the Dagestani fighter. However, since Makhachev has been brilliant for so long, people believe that Poirier too had his moments and it wasn’t a one-sided match.
Claiming that it was all because of comparisons, ‘DC’ said, “So, I thought he did well. I thought Dustin did well, but I think he falls victim to expectation. He’s not Khabib. Khabib was just so outwardly dominant that you never saw him struggle. So, people think to expect the same thing from Islam, and nobody’s Khabib.” Lightweight champion since October 2022, Islam Makhachev will put his belt on the line for the fourth time at UFC 311 against Arman Tsarukyan. Do you believe that he would be able to win the fight? Let us know in the comments.
