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Islam Makhachev recently shared his reaction after Khabib Nurmagomedov offered him advice ahead of his upcoming move to welterweight. Nurmagomedov has been involved in his longtime friend and pupil's training and will be a valuable source of knowledge to lean on.
Makhachev is in the midst of preparing himself for welterweight, which will see him compete against fighters that are 15 pounds more than what he was accustomed to at lightweight. The Dagestani is expected to receive an immediate welterweight title shot against new champion Jack Della Maddalena after vacating his lightweight championship in hopes of joining the list of legends to become two-division champion.
Makhachev has hinted at a move to 170 pounds for quite some time but only refrained from doing so due to his friendship with Belal Muhammad, who was ascending the rankings before becoming champion. Now that Muhammad has lost his title to Della Maddalena, the former lightweight champion has set his sights on conquering a second division.
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Nurmagomedov recently took to his Instagram account, where he offered Makhachev some advice through a cryptic message rather than a direct one. He took a photo of a quote that was on a car and tagged the former lightweight champion underneath:
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"Now don't rush brother" [Translated]
Makhachev took notice of Nurmagomedov's advice and responded with an 'Okay' emoji, depicting his approval.
Check out Islam Makhachev's response to Khabib Nurmagomedov's advice below:
![Islam Makhachev responds to Khabib Nurmagomedov's cryptic advice [Image courtesy: @islam_makhachev on Instagram]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/05/026e8-17478340568939-1920.jpg)
UFC lightweight Grant Dawson says Islam Makhachev is making a mistake moving to welterweight
UFC lightweight Grant Dawson recently said that he didn't believe Islam Makhachev moving to welterweight was a wise decision.
In his latest conversation with Inside Fighting prior to UFC 315, Dawson recalled Makhachev was having difficulties against Alexander Volkanovski in their first lightweight clash. He mentioned that the performance was telling and doesn't believe he would match up well due to the size discrepancy:
"We saw Islam struggle with a 145 [pounder] that had really good takedown defense. I just can't imagine him going up, adding 15 pounds to an opponent and looking better... I don't think a move up for Islam is a good idea."
Check out Grant Dawson's comments below:
