Islam Makhachev was recently asked about a fight with Khamzat Chimaev.
The former UFC Lightweight Champion and former pound-for-pound king is weight classes apart from Chimaev, who won the UFC middleweight title with a domination of Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319.
Islam Makhachev will likely be challenging for the welterweight title in his next fight against champion Jack Della Maddalena later this year, though a date has yet to be set.
Khamzat Chimaev has had multiple fights at welterweight in the past, not ruling out a return to the weight class for a second belt. The middleweight champion turned heads when he said the quickest way to #1 pound-for-pound status was by beating Makhachev.
Makhachev addressed Chimaev’s comments over a potential fight and his latest performance this week.
Islam Makhachev doesn’t want conflict with his and Khamzat Chimaev’s people, but says ‘we will see’
Makhachev played it cool when a reporter asked him about a possible fight with Chimaev at welterweight.
“I’m answering this question here. I don’t want to open the door to any kind of conflict between our people,” Makhachev said at a press conference.
“Well, we will see,” Makhachev said of potentially fighting Chimaev.
“I have a tough fight ahead…”
Like Chimaev, Makhachev’s tentative next opponent Jack Della Maddalena has never been beaten in the UFC. The welterweight champion is riding an 18-fight win streak and defeated Belal Muhammad by decision to win the title in the UFC 315 main event in May.
A fight between Chimaev and Makhachev would simply be massive. Both UFC stars have over 10 million followers on Instagram and have a combined 30-fight win streak.
Islam Makhachev on what surprised him about Khamzat Chimaev’s title win
Makhachev also gave his thoughts on Chimaev’s title-winning performance at UFC 319.
Chimaev broke multiple records in his five-round fight against du Plessis, grounding the champion for nearly 22 minutes of control time, with 12 successful takedowns and 529 total strikes.
“I was impressed by his domination,” Makhachev said of Chimaev’s title win.
“I think he was conserving his energy. He never forced anything. He wasn’t even putting power into his strikes. His goal was just to become UFC champion.
“If he wanted to, he could’ve forced [the finish]. He could’ve done more damage and finished the fight.
“But, I was surprised he took him down so easily and was able to control him for so long,” Makhachev added.