Islam Makhachev speaks out on what happened between him and the UFC last week.
Former UFC Champion Rafael Dos Anjos needed a new opponent for UFC 272, after his original opponent Rafael Fiziev fell through. On a few days notice, Makhachev offered to step in to fight RDA at 170lbs. RDA accepted on his end, but Makhachev reportedly turned down the contract. At least, that’s according to Dana White.
Since then, Makhachev has lost out on his potential title shot and now has to face Beneil Dariush instead.
Makhachev Speaks His Mind
A few days after the fact, Makhachev would open up about the whole situation, talking to ESPN. He’d start off with his original offer to step in.
“‘Hey, Ali, I saw some news,’” Makhachev recalled saying. “‘Please call UFC and say I’m ready for take this fight.’”
“I just want to help UFC, for the fans, for everybody, because this is a pay-per-view show, big show. I just asked for very small condition, but UFC say no, and that’s it.”
Makhachev might leave us with more questions than answers on this one. He wouldn’t reveal what the ‘very small condition’ was for not taking the fight.
Did Makhachev Ask For A Million Dollars?
RDA recently said he heard Makhachev asked for $1M to fight him. Perhaps that was the small condition? Well, not exactly according to Makhachev.
“No, not million dollars. 100% not million dollars.”
Thoughts On RDA’s Last Performance
Moving on from why the fight wasn’t made, Makhachev would get some good seats for UFC 272. There he’d watch short-notice replacement Renato Moicano take on RDA. While Dos Anjos dominated the majority of the fight, Makhachev wasn’t too impressed with the former champ’s performance.
“But anyway, you know, I sit and watched this fight. Dos Anjos not my level of fighter. What can he give me?” Makhachev said. “If I beat him, people will be talking like this is old man, he’s not from top five, and that’s it.
Reacting To Dana White
As we mentioned before, Dana White wants Makhachev to fight Beneil Dariush next. It might be a step down from a title shot, but surprisingly, the top contender doesn’t have much of a problem with that. The Dagestani says his dreams of reaching UFC gold are inevitable.
“Now Dana say I have to fight (Beneil) Dariush. I have no problem fighting him, but who has to fight for the title next? I don’t know. It’s OK. I don’t know. He can say whatever he wants, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going to fight anyone because I’m going to be champion and fight all these guys in top 10, beat all these guys.”