- The UFC has officially made Islam Makhachev the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter
- Khabib Nurmagomedov and Ali Abdelaziz gave an epic reaction to Islam’s milestone
At last, Islam Makhachev finally claimed the UFC’s No. 1 pound-for-pound title. As expected, his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov and manager Ali Abdelaziz were thrilled about his latest feat.
The P4P King
Makhachev already felt like he deserved to be the UFC’s pound-for-pound king after he defeated Alexander Volkanovski in their first showdown. However, that wasn’t how the cookie crumbled and instead, “Bones” copped the spot following his title fight win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.
After Jones withdrew from his upcoming title fight with Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 due to injury, the UFC demoted him to No. 2 and Makhachev is now the UFC’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. For many, it was only fitting as Makhachev even finished another former No. 1 pound-for-pound in Volk during their rematch at UFC 294.
The milestone saw Islam joining Khabib, who also became the P4P king at one point during his time with the UFC, in the same category. It didn’t take long before Nurmagomedov and Abdelaziz expressed their thoughts on social media.
In a touching post on Instagram, “The Eagle” pointed out that it was indeed an incredible achievement for Makhachev but the world should be ready for more.
“It’s an unprecedented case when two fighters, raised from childhood by the same coach, in the same city, in the same gym, trained side-by-side for a long time – become singleweight champions in the best league in the world @ufc. And also both became the best fighters regardless of the weight category of their time. And believe me it’s not a full stop, @islam_makhachev continues to make history,” Nurmagomedov wrote [translated online].
“Alhamdulillah for everything, sometimes things happen to us and we think we are so great, but wallahi it’s all a test and test from Almighty and one day it can all vanish as if nothing happened. Be thankful and know that everything comes from the Almighty good and bad and all that brought you from above are historical facts unprecedented in this sport,” he continued.
On the other hand, Abdelaziz tweeted about it and mocked Conor McGregor at the same time.
@TheNotoriousMMA hey crackhead how do you like this pic.twitter.com/yMiPYqn5AG
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) November 7, 2023
Islam vs. Conor has a chance
As the UFC’s biggest draw, Makhachev certainly gets to choose what he wants to do next. The idea of a super fight with McGregor suddenly emerged but at the same time, Makhachev is also keen on moving up to welterweight.
Islam’s coach Javier Mendez sees a showdown with “Notorious” as something that could make sense, considering McGregor’s long-standing feud with Nurmagomedov. However, Mendez said it will all boil down to what is the most appealing to Makhachev.
