Islam Makhachev’s One-Word Descriptions of Conor McGregor, Alexander Volkanovski, Charles Oliveira, and Others

Islam Makhachev is just a day away from his third title defense at UFC 302. Whether he retains his title against a motivated Dustin Poirier is yet to be seen. But these promotional interviews have revealed something only DC and Khabib seemingly knew- Islam is the funniest guy in the UFC.

In a recent interview with Sportsnet, they asked him to describe fighters in one word, something of a tradition for UFC fighters. That was all the cue Islam needed to just take off.

]Makhachev does not have any filter. Perhaps its the difference in language or it is just how Islam is. Like Peter Griffin from Family Guy, if his brain comes across a thought, any thought; it’s coming out of his mouth. No filters in between.

From the interview with Sportsnet, here’s his one-word description for Alexander Volkanovski,

“Short”

 

Ahead of #UFC302, we asked Islam Makhachev to describe some UFC fighters in one word. pic.twitter.com/Mz8ixLwJmB

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 30, 2024

The UFC Lightweight Champion then went on to describe Georges St-Pierre with ‘IQ’, Khabib Nurmagomedov with ‘pressure, and Conor McGregor for his trademark ‘left hand’. Now to be fair, the champion has given credit where credit was due.

However, the most peculiar description came for Charles Oliveira. Islam Makhachev called the Brazilian his friend with a smile on his face; an interesting way to describe the man you won the belts from.

Speaking of Brazilian fighters, Makhachev shared another interesting moment with Paulo Costa during the UFC 302 press conference.

Islam Makhachev praises Paulo Costa for being the Brazilian fighter to speak English

The UFC 302 presser was bound to be entertaining with the likes of Paulo Costa and Sean Strickland in it. However, while the two fighters were talking trash to each other, the champ this hilarious remark about Costa.

“Finally Brazilian fighter speak English, it’s respect man.”

 

Islam Makhachev throwing shade at Brazilian fighters

“Finally Brazilian fighter speak English, it’s respect man.”#UFC302 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/PfSblCWhyj

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 30, 2024

For the uninitiated, Islam had earlier called out Charles Oliveira during the UFC 280 presser for wanting to be a superstar but not speaking in English. Despite some time having passed since then, neither Oliveira nor Alex Pereira amongst other Brazilian fighters have shown their English speaking skills.

Makhachev, on the other hand, learned English early on, because it made him more marketable as a fighter. While a fighter’s first thought isn’t to speak another language, it must be noted that the UFC’s primary audience is in the US, speaking English. So if you want them to invest in you, they need to understand you.