Islam Makhachev’s coach has a very clear path laid out for his fighter running through until the end of 2025.
Speaking on the next steps for the reigning lightweight champion and pound-for-pound star, Mendez had this to say;
“After Ramadan, I’m hoping the UFC will fight Islam (Makhachev) at Madison Square Garden. Only because it’s good for his marketability to fight in the U.S.”
Although a fight is yet to be booked for the current UFC lightweight champion, Makhachev’s coach provided an ideal roadmap for the Russian. “Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, and then the welterweight title. They would be my three next fights for Islam. I’d like to see Islam become the welterweight world champion in 2025. If we get two fights this year, who knows, you might see the UFC offer him a title shot sooner.”
Islam Makachev: The Reign
Despite being on a 13-fight win streak, Makhachev is left with few options as of right now. Charles Oliveira is scheduled to fight Arman Tsarukyan, and Justin Gaethje will fight Max Holloway for the BMF title. Both of which are booked for UFC 300.
Since his win over Charles Oliveira in October 2022, which saw Islam Makhachev capture the lightweight title, the 32-year-old has yet to defend the belt against someone in his own weight class.
Makhachev was penciled in to rematch Oliveira at UFC 294, a year on from their first encounter, but the Brazilian sustained a cut on his eyebrow. The cut, which required stitches meant that the rematch with Oliveira had to be postponed.
This resulted in both title defenses coming against the now-former featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski. ‘Volk’ lost a controversial decision in their first fight which was dubbed as one of the fights of the year. The Dagestani-born fighter put the rivalry to bed in their second meeting though as he blitzed his way through Volkanovski, stopping the Aussie in the first round with a viscous head-kick.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
