Who won’t Islam Makhachev fight? A kangaroo? Like he has said himself, a kangaroo can strike but can it grapple? Will he then fight a bear? Sure, Khabib Nuramgomedov did it, didn’t he? King Kong then? If King Kong can make 145 lbs, Islam’s good to go there. Brock Lesnar? Floyd Mayweather, maybe? Yes, and yes. The UFC light heavyweight champion would. He’s even called them out.
Before he captured UFC gold from Charles Oliveira in 2022, the Russian wrecking ball was calling out fighters left and right, even going on to call out former heavyweight champion Brock Lesner and boxing icon Floyd Mayweather.
Of course, this was at the time Conor McGregor was boxing Mayweather, which went on to change his entire life. So it was only natural that Makhachev wanted a slice of the pie.
“Hey, Dana (White), I want a money fight. give me (Floyd) Mayweather.”
And as far as Brock Lesnar is concerned, it’s very likely that the name came from the champion having grown up watching WWE. He called for his AKA buddy Daniel Cormier, who has been friends with the former WWE and UFC champion for quite some time and said:
“Hey, DC, tell this guy, I deserve top 15 or I want to fight with Brock Lesner.”
This was of course at a time when Makhachev was relatively new to the sport and was mostly a mauler, built from the same template as Khabib Nuramagomedov.
While both DC and Khabib had been hyping the young man up, he had grown a little tired of squashing unranked fighters left and right. Hence, the legendary, ‘give me freedom or give me death’ ‘Give me top 15 or give me Brock’ call out.
But that was a younger man having his fun. Islam is 33 years old now. He is on his way to becoming the most dominant lightweight champion in the history of the promotion, having already defended his title thrice. Surely, he’s not as much of a clown these days.
Sike! Yes, he is!
The UFC lightweight champion consistently calls out his peers and seniors like it means nothing. Maybe, it is the use of his limited vocabulary in English or maybe he is just sneakily mean, Makhachev just always has one up his sleeve, and more often than not, it’s Cormier who takes the brunt of it.
There was one time when he joined UFC veteran Chael Sonnen and his co-host DC for their ESPN show, ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ and asked DC on LIVE TV to rename the show ‘Fat Guy/Bad Guy’. As a matter of fact, this is a running gag between the two where no matter what the occasion is, if the Dagestani is around, DC is getting kneecapped for his weight.
What else? What else?
Yes, there was also this time when he asked DC if he wanted his son to be good at wrestling. Of course, Cormier wants his son to be a good wrestler. Being an Olympian, one would assume he would see to the task himself.
No, Makhahchev’s idea was to have DC send his kid to Dagestan with him for a few years and “forget”. When Cormier countered asserting he wasn’t going to send his son to Russia for 2 years, Makhachev brought out his puppy eyes and a rare talent for bargaining.
He offered DC a new stipulation- “Send him for six months with one phone call!”
So, there he is, your UFC lightweight champion of the world- Islam Makhachev!
