Islam Makhachev had an active 2023, fighting twice last year. The lightweight champion plans to maintain the activity levels by fighting twice this year too, as he stated on Twitter. Makhachev stated that he wanted to fight Gaethje followed by the winner of Oliveira vs Tsarukyan. However, UFC veteran Chael Sonnen believes that there is a bigger and better fight ready for the lightweight champion.
In a recent YouTube video posted on his channel, Sonnen spoke about the main event at UFC 300. He went on to state that Makhachev vs Edwards could be a possibility for the same. He said,
“Islam did call out Leon. He called out Leon and Colby. The fight was going on and he took to social media. I mean that is a lot, by Islam’s standards that is a lot. Islam is a big guy at some point he is leaving the 155-pound, that is true. So why not speed it up?
The former title challenger continued,
“And Dana referred to the fight he is sitting at on 300 as a super fight… but more times than not in our space that is two guys from opposing weight classes. So that would point to Islam going in against Leon.”
In the same video, Sonnen also teased a possible return of Khabib Nurmagomedov. He stated that coach Mendez recently said ‘The Eagle’ had started training with him again. Further adding that Nurmagomedov only trained with coach Mendez when he was getting ready for a fight. Sonnen is a strong believer that ‘The Eagle’ could make a return at UFC 300.
Khabib Nurmagomedov to thwart Islam Makhachev’s move up to welterweight?
During his fighting career, Nurmagomedov never had the opportunity to go up in weight and challenge for the 170-pound belt. This is something that Makhachev has tried to accomplish. Sonnen suggested that Makhachev vs Edwards could be the main event at UFC 300. At this point, it is hard to believe so since Edwards vs Muhammad is long believed to have been finalized for UFC 300.
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However, Makhachev vs Edwards is a very strong possibility if Dana White feels he needs a super fight to headline UFC 300. ‘The Eagle’ stepped away from the sport as a promise to his mother. It does not seem as though any amount of money can lure him back. Therefore, Sonnen’s belief of ‘The Eagle’ making a comeback for UFC 300 seems too farfetched to be true at this point in time.