Islam Makhachev is already gearing up for his third consecutive title defense. In a little over a month, he will be facing Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. Ahead of the fight, a familiar face in Khabib Nurmagomedov has returned to the training camp to oversee the training for a fighter he beat dominantly in the past. Nurmagomedov’s involvement comes after head coach Javier Mendez was unable to make it to camp as he was stuck in a flooded Dubai.
Javier Mendez took to social media to update fans about the training camp in his absence. He shared a video shot by none other than coach Khabib himself and captioned it saying,
“Team is under control when Coach @khabib_nurmagomedov is leading the team.”
In the video, ‘The Eagle’ filmed several fighters practicing at the gym. The video included two fighters in a cage, a few looking on from the outside, and close to a dozen fighters honing their skills on the punching bag. Moreover, we even got to see glimpses of Islam Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Tagir Ulanbekov among others.
The proceedings for the training camp are usually overseen by Javier Mendez. He has been the head coach for both Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev for a while now. Unfortunately, record rains and flash floods grounded all recent flights going in and out of Dubai. This meant that Mendez was not able to join the camp in time and his protege had to take over to ensure smooth sailing.
On the other hand, Makhachev has insisted that there’s a bigger target waiting for him after Poirier.
Islam Makhachev reveals his game plan after Dustin Poirier
Even though Makhachev has a huge test coming up in front of him in the form of Dustin Poirier, the lightweight champion has a few targets in mind after ‘The Diamond.’ In a recent interview with the New York Post, the Dagestani stated that once he beats Poirier he will take on Arman Tsarukyan. Besides, if he wins both, it would be safe to bet on Makhachev moving up in weight and challenging for the 170-pound title.
Makhachev was offered a chance to fight Leon Edwards at UFC 300. However, he turned that down as he did not want to fight during Ramadan. Still, if he were to get past his next two fights, Makhachev would most definitely try to fulfill his long-time dream of becoming a two-division champion in the UFC.
