Islam Makhachev's weight cutting slammed by Gilbert Burns, but still seen as a welterweight problem

UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns recently appeared in an interview with InsideFighting, where he slammed Islam Makhachev's extreme weight cut to make the 155-pound lightweight limit.

Makhachev has long remained a force to be reckoned with in the lightweight division. He captured the belt in 2022 and has since defended it four times, against the likes of Alexander Volkanovski (x2), Dustin Poirier, and Renato Moicano. Having solidified his status as the undisputed king at 155 pounds, he is now eyeing a move up in weight class.

'Durinho' shared that Makhachev "kills himself" to make the 155-pound limit and looks "horrible" during the pre-fight weigh-ins. He also claimed that he would favor the Dagestani fighter in a potential bout against Belal Muhammad or Jack Della Maddalena at welterweight. He said:

"I think Islam is a welterweight; he's already big. He just kills himself to make weight, and every time he makes weight, he looks horrible. After the weigh-in, he's big again. Yes, I favor him over Jack and Belal."

Check out Gilbert Burns' comments about Islam Makhachev in the post below:

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Belal Muhammad believes Islam Makhachev has big fights lined up at lightweight

Belal Muhammad recently appeared on Demetrious Johnson's MIGHTYcast podcast, where he shared his belief that Islam Makhachev has several great fights lined up at 155 pounds, while also claiming that he would himself be making a move up to the 185-pound division in the future.

'Remember the Name' listed several surging lightweight fighters as potential challengers for Makhachev's lightweight strap. He said:

"I think for Islam, there's guys for him right now to fight at 155 [pounds]. Especially besides Ilia, where you're looking at Justin Gaetjhe—he just had a nice win [and] hasn't fought Islam yet. Paddy Pimblett, I think, just threw his name in the mix, and his star power, if I'm the UFC, you want to push him right away.

He added:

"And then you still have Arman [Tsarukyan] and [Charles] Oliveira. Those obviously would be rematches for him, but there's still fights there. But yeah, I would definitely move up, and I don't think that they would be too big for me at all either."

Check out Belal Muhammad's comments below (1:09:12):