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Islam Makhachev was seemingly unimpressed with Dustin Poirier's Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills showcase against Charles Oliveira. Poirier faced Oliveira for the undisputed UFC lightweight title last December. He almost knocked Oliveira out but ultimately lost the fight via third-round submission (rear-naked choke).
Presently, Islam Makhachev is scheduled to face Charles Oliveira for the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 280 on October 22. In a video posted to MMA legend Daniel Cormier's YouTube channel, Makhachev spoke to longtime training partner 'DC' regarding the upcoming Oliveira matchup.
The wrestling and Sambo savant from Dagestan asserted that he'll out-grapple BJJ wizard Oliveira.
Cormier alluded to the fact that Oliveira recently secured impressive stoppage victories over elite opponents such as Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje. Makhachev responded by pointing out that all three aforesaid fighters stunned Oliveira on the feet and almost knocked him out.
Makhachev then criticized their grappling skills. He opined that they were hesitant to attack Oliveira on the ground as they feared his BJJ, which is why they lost to him:
"All this guy -- Chandler, Gaethje, Poirier, who? This guy all don't have nothing. In the ground, they, I don't know."
Moreover, he lambasted former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier for his underwhelming grappling display against Charles Oliveira. Insinuating that 'The Diamond' doesn't deserve to be considered a BJJ black belt, Makhachev said:
"So, what he did when he catch his arm, he go to do the, what is this, brother?"
Cormier chimed in and noted that the term Makhachev was looking for was 'Granby roll':
"Black belt, who give him [Poirier]? We have to check that now. And we have to cancel, brother, many black belt because they make the jiu-jitsu look bad because a lot of guys have black belt but I don't know."
Watch Makhachev discuss the topic at 8:57 in the video below:
Islam Makhachev reveals when his opinion about Charles Oliveira changed
Islam Makhachev is on a tremendous 10-fight win streak while Charles Oliveira is on an epic 11-fight win streak. That said, while Makhachev has lost just once in his professional MMA career, Oliveira has tasted defeat on eight separate occasions.
During the UFC 280 media day, Islam Makhachev touched upon this and indicated that he previously didn't view Charles Oliveira as a championship-caliber fighter. Oliveira, who hasn't lost since December 2017, purportedly grabbed Makhachev's attention only a couple of years back:
“Before, he have many loss, many hard fight, and I never thought that this guy [Oliveira] was gonna be champion. Right now, everything is changing. Now, last couple years, I follow his career.”
Watch Makhachev's assessment below:
