Islam Makhachev, the current UFC lightweight champion, has been undefeated for a long time. After defeating Charles Oliveira at UFC 280, he defended the title twice already against UFC bantamweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Many fighters are in line to get their hands on what Makhachev has right now. The top contenders in the division are getting themselves prepared for one bout against the reigning champion. Having had no defeats since the year 2016, Islam made a big statement on his social media account.
Islam Makhachev sends a strong message to the top 5 contenders
After UFC Austin, where Arman Tsarukyan registered the victory via knockout, he placed himself on the list of title-fight opponents for Makhachev. Though Charles Oliveira is already in line for the rematch, the still-defending champion doesn’t think anything will change until he retires from mixed martial arts. The 32-year-old went on Twitter to send a big statement to his upcoming opponents.
Arman, Dustin, Justin, Charles they all good, they’re TOP 5 in the world, but none of them will get the belt, while I’m here. That’s it! @ufc @espnmma
— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) December 6, 2023
“Arman, Dustin, Justin, and Charles are all good; they’re the top 5 in the world, but none of them will get the belt while I’m here. That’s it!” It was more of a warning for the top five lightweight fighters. It can be sensed that the words of Tsarukyan have reached the champ.
Arman called out Islam after defeating Beneil Dariush at UFC Austin. Since he also tagged UFC in the tweet, it is a clear message of being ready for the challenge with these top five fighters.
Islam Makhachev’s title defense record
So far, Makhachev has defended his title twice against Alexander Volkanovski. The first fight at UFC 284 went all five rounds, and the lightweight champion had a tough time with the featherweight champion. Next time they met at UFC 294, in the very first round, Volkanovski got a head kick and punch combo to receive the knockout loss against the defending champion.
The only challenge fans are awaiting is a rematch between Makhachev and “Do Bronx.” Oliveira did show his desire recently: “We just heard this from the locker room. People were asking us in the messages about getting it. This is the first time we heard about it. That’s the timeline—January, maybe. So who knows?” via MMAJunkie.
But so far, no official announcement has been made by UFC officials. Charles was also recovering from an injury he received during his training that led to his withdrawal from the UFC 294 main event fight, and that’s when Alexander came in as a replacement on short notice.
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