Islam Makhachev celebrates his first round knockout against Gleison Tibau in their Lightweight fight during UFC 220 at TD Garden on January 20, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
Islam Makhachev was left dejected after two top ranked lightweights turned down his fight
Makhachev has been soaring high in the lightweight division. The Dagestani is currently on an incredible 7 match win streak, with his last defeat coming way back in 2015 October.
With 19 wins and just one loss, many believe Makhachev might be the next big thing in the UFC’s lightweight division. Makhachev has also been likened to fellow Dagestani and current coach Khabib Nurmagomedov, due to a similar fighting style.
He has slowly begun climbing up the ranks, and is currently ranked number 11.
His recent victory against Drew Dober at UFC 259, showed how efficient the Russian can be on the ground, as he eased his way to a third-round submission victory.
Following a string of victories, Makhachev has begun targeting the elites of the lightweight division.
He recently took to Twitter to express his dismay at being turned down by two top-ranked lightweights- Rafael dos Anjos and Paul Felder.
And hence, it looks like it might take a while before Makachev lands a decent opponent.
Paul Felder might have turned down a fight against Islam Makhachev. But last year, Makhachev and Dos Anjos were booked to fight twice.
Their bout was initially scheduled to take place on the 24th of October at UFC 254- the day Khabib Nurmagomedov retired. Unfortunately, Dos Anjos pulled out of the fight due to testing positive for COVID-19 on the 8th of October.
Dos Anjos recovered quickly and the fight was rescheduled for November 14, 2020. Just a week prior to that Makhachev pulled out of the fight due to staph infection.
That’s when Paul Felder stepped in to face Dos Anjos. The pair went on to put on a performance for the ages, with Dos Anjos winning the fight via. split decision.
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