‘No One Checked Python’s Grappling’: Fans Ask for Islam Makhachev as Another UFC Champion Handles Giant Snake at Zoo

Leave it to UFC fans to turn even a petting zoo video into a competition. UFC flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja took a break from the octagon to visit a petting zoo in Las Vegas, where he got up close and personal with some cold-blooded creatures including a huge python. But fans could only think of how this gentle giant of a creature would fare in a grappling battle against Islam Makhachev.

Makhachev has often been asked hypothetical questions about fighting animals by reporters. And the lightweight champion has always done them the courtesy of answering them seriously.

Now, of all the beasts of the animal kingdom, the python would be one the very few that would be a good grappler. Without venom in its teeth, it can’t really strike without putting its opponents in a deadly squeeze first. But fans wanted proof. So one of them quipped, “Islam would’ve checked out their grappling,” while another hilariously added, “Bratha, python striking is good but grappling…no one check that.”

 

Another suggested a hypothetical matchup and said, “Python vs Islam for #1 P4P,” followed by a confident prediction from this fan, who claimed, “Idk man, Islam submits that snek.”

The jokes were a callback to Makhachev’s now-famous comment during a press tour in Australia in 2024 where UFC stars were asked how they would fare in a battle against a kangaroo.

Sean Strickland jumped right in claiming that it was his dream to fight a kangaroo while, local champ Alexander Volkanovski seemed skeptical of anybody’s changes against the marsupial. But Makhachev looked like he came prepared for a fight. With the look of a man about to embark on Fury Road but without the face paint, the lightweight champion said,

“I’m gonna submit kangaroo for sure. Kangaroo have good striking, but nobody check the grappling.”

To be fair, this has been Islam’s plan to defeat anybody ever. And it always worked, so why fix something that isn’t broken? Besides, it seems fans have already crowned Makhachev as the ultimate grappler, whether he’s up against a lightweight contender, a kangaroo, or a 12-foot python.

The creativity of the UFC fans did not stop there. They dug further back in time and were reminded of Conor McGregor’s infamous ‘Snake in the Grass’ line directed at TJ Dillashaw.

UFC fans call TJ Dillashaw a ‘Snake’

Back during his ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ days in 2015, McGregor had once gotten into a friendly argument with Urijah Faber and ended up taking shots at Dillashaw.

It was supposed to be ancient history. But once fans saw the python with Pantoja , they immediately got nostalgic.

The jokes came rolling in, with one fan writing, “Pantoja met Dillashaw, no way,” and another chiming in, “What is Dillashaw doing on Pantoja?”

All these years later, it is still believed that McGregor’s remarks were made because Dillashaw was splitting his time between the two teams on the show, apparently a betrayal against Faber.

Funnily enough, during the show, the ‘Mystic Mac’ had even predicted that Dillashaw would leave Team Alpha Male, and, like so many of his infamous predictions, he was spot-on. Dillashaw later parted ways with Faber, cementing the snake metaphor in the minds of MMA fans forever.