"We are waiting" - Islam Makhachev posts photo with Hasbulla as warning to Rafael dos Anjos

UFC lightweight Islam Makhachev is one of the biggest rising stars in the division. His victory over Thiago Moises at UFC Vegas 31 helped him climb up four spots in the official UFC rankings for the lightweight division to reach number five. The Russian fighter wasted no time in calling out his next opponent.

He took several names, but former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos is at the top of his list. They have been engaged in several spats on Twitter over the last week. While RDA didn't want to fight Islam Makhachev because of his ranking, the new rise to the fifth spot changed everything.

The fight might look like a much more realistic opportunity right now. Islam Makhachev continued his verbal attack on RDA by uploading a photo of himself on Twitter posing with popular internet personality Hasbulla Magomedov.

"Rafael dos Anjos, we are waiting," he captioned the tweet.

@RdosAnjosMMA we are waiting 🖊 📝 pic.twitter.com/AiZ5DHn1GM

— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) July 27, 2021

Their rivalry is heating up on social media, and while everything was silent for a day, it seems like Makhachev wants all of the smoke. RDA hasn't responded yet, but he did say that Islam Makhachev wasn't at the helm of his Twitter account, and hence he wouldn't reply to him.

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Islam Makhachev calls Rafael dos Anjos a grandpa and promises to beat him up

The beginning of this feud can be traced back to a tweet by Rafael dos Anjos in April. When a fan asked him to fight Islam Makhachev, dos Anjos wasn't sure that Makhachev was a top contender.

However, after the Dagestani fighter climbed to number five, RDA called out Islam Makhachev and threw in a barb at Khabib Nurmagomedov for good measure.

I just heard back from the UFC that Islam accepted to fight me Oct 30 5 rounds in Abu Dhabi and Khabib agreed to come out of retirement to avenge his brother’s loss after that.

— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) July 22, 2021

The former champion got Makhachev's attention, and they ran with the feud. Islam Makhachev brought up Rafael dos Anjos's tweet in April and called him out for changing his mind when the rankings got updated.

However, RDA took it on the chin and asked him to meet in the cage for a five-round fight. Fans would definitely like to see this fight if it takes place, as the winner will be much closer to a title shot. RDA is on a quest to recapture his belt, while Islam Makhachev aims to bring lightweight gold back to Dagestan.