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Fans have rallied behind Islam Makhachev after a social media post questioned his claim to title contention. An Instagram page called MMA Feed reposted a tweet from @BuffaloPhil claiming Makhachev is the least proven on the list of surging UFC contenders, behind Alex Pereira and Khamzat Chimaev.
@BuffaloPhil noted that while both Pereira and Chimaev have registered a win against a top-five contender within a handful of outings, Makhachev has failed to do so in 12 fights.
Fans have unanimously rallied behind Islam Makhachev, defending the Dagestani contender's claim to a title shot. Fans in general noted that Makhachev failed to land himself a top-five matchup as everyone in the upper echelons were ducking him. A use with the handle @fahadfayaz_ commented:
"Top 5 ducked him everytime."
Some fans are even confident of Makhachev defeating the uncrowned lightweight king Charles Oliveira at UFC 280. Others noted that the Dagestani contender's achievements will always be undermined due to his association with former UFC lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Below are some of the fans' comments on Makhachev:
Charles Oliveira is ready to start the fight against Islam Makhachev from "guard"
Charles Oliveira was stripped of his lightweight strap after controversially missing weight ahead of his UFC 274 title fight against Justin Gaethje. 'Do Bronx' went on to win the fight via first-round submission, securing himself a spot in the fight for the vacant strap.
Oliveira is now going to face Islam Makhachev despite insisting that the Dagestani is yet to prove himself as a title contender. The Brazilian will also be facing Makhachev in Abu Dhabi, although he has urged for the bout to be organized in his home turf in Brazil.
However, the uncrowned lightweight champion appears to be unphased about his upcoming Dagestani opponent. Oliveira believes that his mastery in jiu jitsu nullifies the most dominant aspect of Makhachev's game, i.e., his groundwork. 'Do Bronx' is so confident about his grappling that he is even willing to start the fight against Makhachev from guard, meaning Oliveira will have his back to the ground while attempting to control his opponent using his legs. The Brazilian recently told MMA Fighting podcast Trocação Franca:
"I know I’m the biggest problem of this division. No one’s dumb, right? Every guy Islam fought was a striker and he took them down. And I went toe to toe with every guy I fought and only took them down to make things happen after I hurt them on the feet. Islam is fighting the worst problem of the division, Charles Oliveira. Want to start the fight on the ground? I’ll start playing guard. It won’t make any difference to me."
