Following the stop at Rio de Janeiro, the UFC extravaganza is headed straight to New Jersey for a title fight between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. While the lightweight champion looks ready to go, defending his lightweight title is not where is ambition ends. He wants to surpass what Daniel Cormier and Khabib Nurmagomedov have done in the UFC.
Makhachev has revealed his future aspirations to become AKA’s second double champ.
Dropping the major revelation in front of Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen on the Good Guy / Bad Guy podcast, Makhachev clarified his intention of moving to welterweight.
Now, this is no easy task considering that even the great Nurmagomedov did not attempt it. However, Makhachev isn’t settling down for anything less.
“This my dream to be double champion. I want to beat DC’s record, he’s a double champion in AKA, I have to be the second guy.”
Except for Cormier, no other fighter including the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Luke Rockhold, or even Cain Velasquez could hold the belt in two weight classes. But a super-confident Makhachev believes he has what it takes to conquer the 170lb. But can he do it?
Well, he is the only guy to flatline the pound-for-pound best, Alexander Volkanovski with a head kick.
While, it may come off as arrogant, in Makhachev‘s defense, there’s no fighter left in the division after he presses through Dustin Poirier and Arman Tsarukyan. He is a young man, hungry for all that UFC has to offer and right now, that’s conquering multiple divisions.
That said, he would be careful to jump ahead and forget the man he’s fighting next. Poirier is not one to be underestimated and Makhachev knows it.
Makhachev clarifies his stance about Poirier ahead of their bout
With the #1 contender Arman Tsarukyan denying a short notice title shot, it was ‘The Diamond’s’ shot at the lightweight gold. The Louisiana native did not let the opportunity pass and took the challenge head-on, agreeing to fight the champion on June 1. While this a golden opportunity for Poirier to snag the belt before he bows out of the sport, champion Makhachev was not impressed by the 35-year-old’s work.
In fact, he has dismissed Poirier’s Jiu-Jitsu prowess, deeming him as a paper tiger. Quickly the word spread that Makhachev was looking past his opponent, taking away his credibility as a fighter. But truth be told, the AKA fighter in the recent episode of Good Guy/ Bad Guy cleared the air, essentially saying that he wasn’t “underestimating” Poirier in any manner.
In essence, he credited Poirier for his fast hands and boxing techniques. After all, he is still the only fighter to have a TKO victory over ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor. Everyone counted him out when he faced Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299. And then there he was, knocking him out on his way to another title shot.
Besides, Poirier has too much on the line. So Islam Makhachev better bring his A-game because that’s what Poirier does everytime the cage locks behind him.
