Makhachev expected to challenge new champ Della Maddalena for welterweight title later this year
Ali Abdelaziz explains Islam Makhachev vacating UFC title
Islam Makhachev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz talks to MMA Junkie about vacating the lightweight title to move to welterweight.
According to Islam Makhachev’s manager, Tuesday’s slew of UFC fight booking announcements could have been a lot different if the UFC 315 main event went the other way.
When welterweight champion Belal Muhammad lost the belt to Jack Della Maddalena in the main event in Montreal this past Saturday, it set in motion Tuesday’s news: Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) has vacated the lightweight title so he can move up to welterweight to challenge Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) later this year.
Had Muhammad won the fight and retained the title, Makhachev would have stayed at lightweight rather than head to 170 pounds. And if that was the case, he’d be fighting former featherweight champ Ilia Topuria in a title defense – perhaps reluctantly, given his desire to go to 170.
Makhachev and Muhammad’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, broke down the scenarios for MMA Junkie on Tuesday after UFC CEO Dana White announced Makhachev’s move to welterweight and the newly vacated title that will be up for grabs between Topuria and former champ Charles Oliveira in the UFC 317 main event in late June.
“If Belal were to win, Islam was never going to fight Belal, and he’s going to stay in the (lightweight) division. But now Jack wins,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “Islam has beaten everyone in this division, literally. Dan Hooker, Arman, Charles Oliveira, he’s on a 15-fight winning streak, finished nine of his last 10 opponents. (There’s no one who) deserves to go fight for a second title than Islam, and the reason he wasn’t going to do it because Belal was the champion.”
Abdelaziz said Makhachev was willing to set aside personal glory and accolades as long as his teammate and friend Muhammad was champ.
He also said the fact that Makhachev won’t be the lightweight champion if he wins a title at welterweight is just a technicality. Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and others have held two titles simultaneously in the UFC, but in recent months fighters who planned to chase a second belt have either vacated or, in the case of Alex Pereira, lost their belt to begin with.
“You have these two guys, Charles Oliveira and Ilia fighting, and they can fight for the title,” Abdelaziz said. “But everybody knows who’s still champion in this division because he never lost the title.”
Abdelaziz said Makhachev’s resume speaks for itself in terms of why he’s worthy of leaving lightweight to get an immediate shot at the welterweight belt. With 15 straight wins and finishes in eight of his past nine bouts. And with five title fights in a span of just 27 months, he’s been a perfectly active champion.
He also thinks he’ll win the title at welterweight – and still have two belts over his shoulder, even if the lightweight one is just ceremonial.
“Nobody in the UFC right now in any division is doing what Islam Makhachev is doing – finishing guys at this level, putting on unbelievable fights, knocking people out with head kicks, just smashing people,” Abdelaziz said. “I’m going to tell you something: He’s going to be a problem for a lot of these guys. I believe at welterweight, you’re going to get a bigger, not depleted, stronger Islam Makhachev, and I believe he is going to be a problem for the whole division.
“He will have the two belts on top of his shoulder because he’s still the lightweight champion. … When Khabib retired, Khabib retired as a lightweight champion, as pound-for-pound No. 1 king. Islam is the pound-for-pound No. 1 king (now), and he never lost his title.”
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