Islam Makhachev has opened up about how he almost pulled the plug on his teammate during a disaster showing at UFC Qatar.
Tagir Ulanbekov was choked out by the returning Kyoji Horiguchi in a flyweight clash to open Saturday’s main card. It marked a second defeat of the night for Makhachev in the corner after his fellow welterweight Saygid Izagakhmaev lost a split decision to Nicolas Dalby.
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The newly-crowned welterweight champion spoke to the media after touching down back in Dagestan today. And he spoke about how he feels Ulanbekov must now consider a change in divisions after a poor showing in his latest outing.
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Islam Makhachev almost threw in the towel at UFC Qatar
While it’s standard fare to see fighters pulled out by their corners in the boxing world, you almost never see it in MMA. It’s particularly rare in the UFC where there is a split between win and show money.
That was perhaps why Islam Makhachev opted against it at UFC Qatar on Saturday night while watching his teammate Tagir Ulanbekov take a beating. He had struggled to get down to the weight, with the welterweight champion claiming he severely depleted himself in making 125.5lb.
“It’s no secret that Tagir is actually older than me,” Makhachev told the media in Russia earlier today as he returned home with his two belts. “And I saw his entire weight cut… No one had a tougher cut than he did.
“Even on fight day, I talked to him before and after the bout, telling him he shouldn’t be leaving so much energy in the weight cut. Yesterday, Tagir showed maybe only 50% of himself. He walked out there, and after the very first exchange he was already swollen and couldn’t breathe.
“Honestly, I even wanted to stop the fight. But knowing Tagir’s character — that he fights until the very end — I didn’t do it. He simply didn’t feel comfortable enough to go out there and fight. I think our team will sit down and make a decision — Tagir won’t be cutting weight like that ever again.”