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Islam Makhachev is willing to fight Charles Oliveira in Brazil for the vacant UFC lightweight belt.
Location has been a potential sticking point for a title fight between the two top fighters, with Makhachev's mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov calling for the fight in Abu Dhabi. Oliveira's coach Diego Lima countered, demanding the bout take place in Brazil. In a new Instagram post, Makhachev made it clear that he was willing to go to Oliveira's home turf in his quest for gold. Makhachev wrote:
"Oliveira’s coach asking me to fight for title in Brazil. Pass him this message: on this horse, I’ll walk into his country, grab my belt and bring it to the mountains of Dagestan, where it belongs."
The big question is whether the UFC will go ahead and book Makhachev vs. Oliveira next. UFC president Dana White has repeatedly said he wants to book Makhachev against Beneil Dariush, but Dariush is still recovering from a broken fibula. That's led to people like Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan arguing that the UFC should simply go ahead and put Islam Makhachev across from Charles Oliveira.
From a winning streak perspective, it's clearly the fight that makes sense. Oliveira is on an eleven fight win streak. Makhachev is on a ten fight win streak. No one else in the division comes close to those runs. However, critics of Makhachev point out that he hasn't beaten any top ten opponents in the UFC's lightweight rankings. That's likely why Dana White is so insistent on Makhachev facing Dariush before granting him a title shot.
Islam Makhachev wants to beat Charles Oliveira on the ground when they fight
In a recent interview with ESPN, Islam Makhachev was asked how Charles Oliveira would fare against his friend and teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov. Not well, according to Makhachev. He added that it was an irrelevant question, saying:
“We don’t have to say Khabib is going to beat Charles. I’m going to beat Charles. And everybody is going to understand. Honestly, I believe I can finish this guy, and I really want to finish him in the grappling, in his area. I know I can do this.”
Makhachev brings a dominating ground game to the cage that is similar to Khabib Nurmagomedov. If the fight turns to grappling it will likely be Makhachev's controlling ground and pound against Oliveira's crafty submission game.
Watch Islam Makhachev's interview with ESPN below:
