Islam Makhachev gets brutally honest about a potential fight against Khamzat Chimaev: "Tough fight ahead of me"

Islam Makhachev recently shared his thoughts on a potential fight against Khamzat Chimaev, and made it clear he didn't have the Chechen-born grappling maestro on his mind at present.

Chimaev is coming off an impressive title win over Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 last weekend. Despite many doubting his chances, Chimaev dominated du Plessis over five rounds with his superior grappling skills and ultimately won the UFC middleweight championship via unanimous decision.

Meanwhile, Makhachev is expected to face Jack Della Maddalena in a welterweight title fight next. The former lightweight champion vacated the title and moved to the 170-pound division after the Australian beat Belal Muhammad in their UFC 315 clash in May.

Intriguingly, Chimaev expressed an interest in facing Makhachev at welterweight just before UFC 319 and was keen on moving back down to the 170-pound division to pursue his goal of becoming a multiple-division champion.

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

During a recent media scrum, Makhachev fielded a question about a potential Chimaev fight and said:

"I’m answering this question here. I don’t want to open the door to any kind of conflict between our people. Well, we will see. I have a tough fight ahead."

Sharing his thoughts on Chimaev's win over du Plessis, Makhachev continued:

"I was impressed by his domination.I think he was conserving his energy. He never forced anything. He wasn’t even putting power into his strikes. His goal was just to become UFC champion. If he wanted to, he could’ve forced [the finish]. He could’ve done more damage and finished the fight. But, I was surprised he took him down so easily and was able to control him for so long."

Khamzat Chimaev on Islam Makhachev being his fastest route to becoming P4P king

Khamzat Chimaev believes beating Islam Makhachev can propel him to the top of the UFC's P4P list. The Chechen-born grappling savant recently addressed a potential fight against Makhachev at welterweight.

In an interview with The MacLife before his UFC 319 title booking, Chimaev outlined his goal of becoming P4P king and said:

"We will see who is going to be the champion [between Makhachev and Jack Della Maddalena] there, but I don't know, it is the fastest way, if the guy [Makhachev] wins the fight, fastest way to get to pound-for-pound No.1."

About the author

Nishant brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his MMA reporting for Sportskeeda. During his 1.5 years with the organization and previous work, Nishant has established himself as a prolific writer in the MMA community. With a Bachelor's degree in Media and Journalism and a Master's degree in International Relations, Nishant's educational background enhances his analytical and reporting skills.

Nishant admires UFC legend Georges St-Pierre for his dominance and exemplary conduct inside and outside the cage. The monumental UFC 229 event, headlined by a grudge match between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor, captivated Nishant and solidified his passion for MMA.

Nishant focuses on delivering high-quality content by giving attention to detail, and rigorous fact-checking via multiple layers. His dedication is evident in his achievement of publishing over 1.7K articles and accumulating 4.4 million reads in less than two years.

Nishant feels that it is only a matter of time that MMA takes over Boxing as the no.1 combat sport. Beyond MMA, his interests include philosophy, music exploration, and wildlife photography.

Know More

Follow One Championship News, Schedule & Results at Sportskeeda.

Edited by Nishant Zende.