Despite being on the verge of becoming the most storied UFC lightweight champion in living memory, Islam Makhachev hasn’t reached ‘Super Saiyan’ just yet. Coach Javier Mendez has claimed that the reigning pound-for-pound king is still adding weapons to his arsenal and will take his final form soon enough.
The American Kickboxing Academy head coach told MMA scribe Kevin Iole about giving Makhachev space to grow and said that at this stage in his career, it is the intelligent little adjustments to his game that make the most difference.
“It’s like anything, when you’re at the highest level, you can still improve but you can not improve tremendously, just a little bit, but that little bit can make the biggest difference.”
View this post on Instagram
Having coached legends and former UFC world champions like Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez, Mendez understands the need to keep making minor tweaks to his fighters’ games to make them more effective in fights.
Mendez reminisced about his former pupils and explained that sometimes it was just a slight shift that allowed DC to throw Velasquez. Velasquez was a different breed of fighter.
He sees that same potential for growth in Makhachev. As a matter of fact, since becoming a champion, Islam has shown tremendous improvements in his fighting style. He has managed to incorporate some dirty boxing and some kickboxing while still being elite on the ground.
Despite being busted open for the first time in his career by Dustin Poirier at UFC 302, Makachev adopted a strike-first attitude and even outboxed the challenger on a number of occasions. The only complain one could have from the fight was that Islam went overboard with the striking and almost paid the price for it.
But as Mendez said, a few little tweaks here and there would allow him to find that perfect balance between the serenity of wrestling and the rage of striking.
Ahead of his fight against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311, that’s precisely what he needs as well. But it’s not going to be easy.
Mendez not surprised at how good Arman is
Islam and Arman fought way back in 2019 on short notice. Despite the fight being judged unanimously in Islam’s favor, Arman left an impression on both the Dagestani champion and his coach. And now that he’s found his way back to the top, Mendez is not really surprised.
Mendez claims that the matchup was inevitable.
Arman was only making his debut back then and to still have been able to make Islam’s life difficult was an achievement in itself.
After watching him fight, Mendez claims he knew Arman would continue to improve and eventually work his way to another shot at Makhachev.
Now, nearly six years later, that time has finally come. Mendez acknowledges Arman’s growth but remains confident in Islam’s abilities, as the best in the world.
He expects a competitive fight, doesn’t believe Tsarukyan will pose the biggest challenge of Islam’s reign. In his eyes, Poirier already pushed Islam to his limits, but if Arman brings the same intensity, Islam will rise to the occasion.
