Drew Dober advised Charles Oliveira and other top-ranked lightweights on how to defeat the reigning 155-pound champion, Islam Makhachev.
In March 2021, Dober fought Makhachev before the Russian won UFC gold. Makhachev’s grappling skills were too much, leading to a third-round submission win, extending his winning streak to seven fights. Meanwhile, Dober’s three-fight win streak came to an end.
Since then, Makhachev has become the UFC lightweight king, while Dober recently solidified himself as the knockout leader for the division.
During an interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Drew Dober revealed he would change his game plan in a rematch against Makhachev:
“I think the key to beating Islam is you have to dismiss the idea of thinking that he’s such a strong wrestler. You gotta be in it. Next time I fight Islam, I’m wrestling. We’re wrestling, it’s happening.”
Dober continued:
“I might even get a takedown or two. I think that’s what these lightweights need to do. You can’t rely on this avoidance mindset of like we don’t do this, we do this. No, no, you go in there at his best and push him there and then you can find it elsewhere.”
On October 7, Drew Dober returned to the Octagon after suffering a first-round TKO loss against Matt Frevola, which ended Dober’s three-fight win streak. The 34-year-old American bounced back with a first-round TKO win against Ricky Glenn.
Watch Drew Dober’s entire appearance on The MMA Hour below:
Drew Dober offers advice to Charles Oliveira about how to beat Islam Makhachev
In October 2022, Charles Oliveira became the twelfth consecutive opponent to lose against Islam Makhachev. Oliveira was devastated by the missed opportunity to claim the UFC lightweight title.
As a result, ‘Do Bronx’ quickly defeated Beneil Dariush earlier this year to earn a rematch against Makhachev on October 21.
During the same interview on The MMA Hour, Drew Dober was asked what advice he would give Oliveira to help him beat Makhachev. Dober responded by saying:
“You gotta get in his face. Not just in the striking department. You gotta shoot for takedowns. You gotta push that. In the first one, he got hit by a check hook, fell down, and lost by arm triangle.”
Dober continued:
“It wasn’t really much there to kind of build off of. In my advice, Charles, you gotta get in his face. You can’t wait for him to make a mistake. He’s gonna stay in his lane. You gotta force him out of his box. That’s what [Alexander] Volk did.”
It’ll be easier said than done for Charles Oliveira and other top-ranked lightweights to execute a winning game plan against Islam Makhachev.
Since suffering a loss against Adriano Martins in October 2015, Makhachev has won twelve consecutive fights. The Russia world champion’s resume features wins against Arman Tsarukyan, Drew Dober, Dan Hooker, Bobby Green, Charles Oliveira, and Alexander Volkanovski.
