The recently crowned UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev risks angering the fanbase following recent comments.
This past November at UFC 322, Islam Makhachev became the latest fighter to win a title in two different weight classes when he dethroned Jack Della Maddalena to become the new welterweight champion.
With his win, the Russian returned to the summit of the pound-for-pound rankings, knocking Ilia Topuria back off top spot, somewhat continuing their rivalry.
However, following his legendary win, the Russian champion angered the fanbase when he revealed who he would like to defend his 170lb title against first.
Is Islam Makhachev still the pound-for-pound number one fighter in the UFC?
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Makhachev doubles down on why he wants to fight Kamaru Usman next
Also on the UFC 322 card were several highly ranked welterweight contenders, including Michael Morales and Carlos Prates, and just a week later, Ian Machado Garry picked up a big win over Belal Muhammad.
However, despite the litany of high-level contenders atop of the division, Makhachev announced that he wants to fight former UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, next.
This caused huge uproar amongst the UFC fanbase considering the fact that Usman is 1-3 in his last four fights, with his only win having come against Joaquin Buckley, who is currently only rank 10 in the division.
Despite the outrage, Makhachev has doubled down on wanting to fight ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ next, explaining why he believes he is the most worthy contender.
“I said that I wanted to fight Kamaru Usman next. Although the media doesn’t believe in this fight as I can see, but in my opinion, Usman would steamroll through each of these up-and-comers like Morales, Prates, the striker (Machado Garry),” Makhachev told Red Corner MMA.
“Those guys haven’t been checked yet. I think Usman would be the hardest fight for me, and in terms of media, we could build it up, like a former champion, the most title defenses in my weight division, we could promote this fight well and make it fun to watch.
“As for Buckley, he was one of the contenders and Usman simply took him apart and everybody has already forgotten about this guy but if Buckley won, he would’ve been 100% number one contender.”
Does Kamaru Usman deserve to fight Islam Makhachev after everything he’s accomplished?
How do you feel about the former champ potentially getting a title shot? Let us know in the comments.
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Prates now targeting former champion with Makhachev locked in on Usman
The popular Brazilian, Prates, was hopeful that after becoming the first fighter to knock out Leon Edwards, he would’ve earned the title shot.
However, with Makhachev seemingly all-in on fighting Usman, ‘The Nightmare’ has declared that he would like to fight Della Maddalena next in another title eliminator.
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