Islam Makhachev knocked out: Revisiting the only UFC loss of Charles Oliveira's next opponent

During the UFC on ABC 3 broadcast, the promotion announced a fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev for the vacant lightweight title, at UFC 280. Makhachev has only faced defeat once during his professional career.

The 30-year-old's sole loss came against Adriano Martins at UFC 192 via first-round TKO. Referee Frank Collazo called a stop to the contest after Martins floored the Russian with a vicious counter-right hook.

Islam Makhachev, however, bounced back from his only loss with flying colors. The No.4 -ranked lightweight contender is currently on a ten-fight win streak since his October 2015 loss. The Dagestani's pro-mixed martial arts record stands at 22-1.

In his previous outing in the octagon, the 30-year-old sambo aficionado defeated fan favorite Bobby Green with a first-round TKO. Adriano Martins, meanwhile, hasn't been able to get in the win column since his triumph over the Russian.

Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov discuss Islam Makhachev's win against Green below:

Martins was cut from the UFC roster in 2017. He has recorded 5 losses and 1 no-contest since his last win. In his latest fight, the Brazilian succumbed to a unanimous decision loss to Carlos Silva at Copa Norte de MMA 2021.

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Ali Abdelaziz says that Islam Makhachev is going to make light work of Charles Olivera

In a recent interview with The Schmo, Makhachev's manager Ali Abdelaziz said that his fighter is going to play with Charles Olivera at UFC 280. He added that the Russian is going to show Olivera that there are levels to MMA.

The fighter-turned-manager further ridiculed Olivera by saying that he was never the champion; former champ Khabib Nurmagomedov merely let him borrow the belt for Makhachev to reclaim it later:

"You know what Islam is going to do he's going to play with Charles... When it gets to the cage, Islam is going to show it's a level to this. Everybody said Charles was the champion. I think... Khabib let him borrow the belt for Islam to have it."

Watch Ali Abdelaziz talk about the upcoming lightweight title match-up below:

Furthermore, Abdelaziz said that he thought Islam Makhachev was the best grappler in the UFC.

Khabib's protege's next opponent 'do Bronx' lost his lightweight title in anti-climactic fashion to the weight scale. Oliveira was stripped of the lightweight strap after he missed weight by half a pound in his UFC 274 fight against Justin Gaethje.

Watch Charles Oliveira discuss being stripped of the title below: