Islam Makhachev of Russia compete against Davi Ramos of Brazil in their Lightweight Bout during the UFC 242 event at The Arena on September 07, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
The hype train surrounding Islam Makhachev isn’t dying down after another great story with Khabib Nurmagomedov
Javier Mendez knows his MMA as he is the coach of possibly the greatest clique in the world.
While Mendez is known for being the coach of Khabib Nurmagomedov, he is also the coach of rising UFC star Islam Makhachev.
Khabib has claimed that Makhachev is the next big thing in the UFC and the stories around the 29-year-old suggest great things are in store for him.
While Makhachev does have one loss to his name, unlike Khabib, he does have something over the Eagle.
Mendez was speaking to Helen Yee about Makhachev’s next fight against Drew Dober at UFC 259. While he spoke about the challenge that Dober possessed, Mendez also brought up the sparring sessions between Khabib and Makhachev:
“When people talk to me about Khabib sparring and I say he’s never lost a sparring session ever in the history of sparring with me, never.
“I’d say he does lose a round here and there and the one thing I’ve never said who. And the person who is Islam. He is the only person that’s ever won a round against Khabib, ever, ever.
“He’s the only one who has done it ever and all the years I have been with him, the nine years, no one’s ever beat him in a round, never.
“So if Islam is winning a round here and there, how good is Islam?”
The Russian is the favourite going into this fight against Dober but Mendez had some great words for the American.
Mendez believed that Dober would be a tough fight for Makhachev but the Russian would win. However, he claimed that a fight against Rafael Dos Anjos would have helped the brand of Makhachev better since the Brazilian was ranked.
Makhachev is ranked #14 in the Lightweight division while Dober is not. Further, Mendez believed that Makhachev deserved to fight someone in the top five and the Russian’s breakout clash could be the one after this.
Many have talked highly of Makhachev, including Khabib, and it will be interesting to see how he does against Dober.
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates