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A Legendary teammate of Islam Makhachev from the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) is convinced that a fight against the former pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman would garner a lot of interest.
Duirng a recent appearance on Usman and Henry Cejudo's podcast, Team Khabib's greatest ally, Daniel Cormier, laid out why the fight would be easy to make, saying:
"Here is what helps you. Islam wins; it makes it easier to sell, because of the same management, team, friendship. The world likes to see people that are aligned forever not be aligned. And they would love to see what a bill between you two would be."
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Check out Kamaru Usman hype up a potential fight against Islam Makhachev below (7:32):
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Ever since Makhachev doubled down on the idea of a welterweight move, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' has been prowling the Dagestani. And after the former welterweight king rebounded from his three-fight skid with a dominant win over Joaquin Buckley in June, he seems ever more motivated to lock in the fight.
At post post-fight press conference at UFC Atlanta, Usman reaffirmed his ambitions, saying:
"Let's be honest, I'm the biggest in the division, and this is about entertainment... You want to make the biggest fight. It's going to be the winner of JDM [Jack Della Maddalena] and Islam. If Islam pulls that one out - former pound-for-pound [vs.] current pound-for-pound, who doesn't pay for that?"
Check out Daniel Cormier's comments on Kamaru Usman below:
Islam Makhachev welcomes the Kamaru Usman challenge
Lucky for Kamaru Usman, the desire to fight Islam Makhachev is not one-sided, as the former lightweight champion also seems to be all in favor of taking on the American.
During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Makhachev was asked who among the welterweight top 10 presented a credible challenge for him. While the Dagestani acknowledged each of them as tough fights, he quickly shifted his sights to Usman, saying:
"I saw some interview, Kamaru said something. He is going to be a tough fight, but sounds good, you know. It's a really big fight. Man, I don't know. Let's just get the belt, and we'll see it again. After the fight, in the press conference, [we'll] talk about this."
Check out Islam Makhachev's comments below (15:07):
