Though not yet official, Islam Makhachev is expected to challenge newly-crowned Welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddalena, for the title later this year. And according to one of his longtime training partners and mentor, Daniel Cormier, that is one of maybe three more fights the former 155-pound champion has left in his career.
During a chat on his YouTube channel, “DC” talked about the very real and “sad” possibility of Makhachev — who is 33 years old — retiring from the fight game sooner, rather than later.
“Islam Makhachev might have three fights, including Jack Della Maddalena,” Cormier said in regards to statement relayed by AKA head coach, Javier Mendez (via MMA Junkie). “That right there is where our energy should be spent as Islam fans. How in the world does it feel like another dominant champion may be saying it’s about time? Why? He’s young, he’s the world champ, he’s dominating, getting the opportunity to become a double champ. Why? I think we’re in a time right now, in fighting, that for me as a fan is very sad. I don’t believe for a second though that it’s going to change. But when they all start to walk away, it’s sad for the fan,” he added.
“But Islam only has three fights? It’s scary to me, because I know, knowing these guys, the only saving grace right now is that someone else is saying it for him and he has not said that himself. If Islam comes out and tells us, ‘I’ve got three fights left,’ we should lock in. We saw Khabib do it, and he never looked back. That should be worrisome to us as mixed martial arts fans. We have so many more fights that we want to these guys to fight. We want to see him against Jack Della, we want to see him against (Kamaru) Usman, and we want to see him against Ilia Topuria. It’s crazy.”
Makhachev vacated his Lightweight title earlier this year in order to challenge himself in a heavier division, which left Ilia Topuria — who vacated his Featherweight title to challenge Islam — rather upset. “El Matador” will now face Charles Oliveirafor the vacant strap left behind by the Dagestani-born wrestler at UFC 317.
UFC recently announced that it would be returning to Perth, Australia later this year, but a fight between “JDM” and Makhachev may not go down there since it likely won’t be a pay-per-view (PPV) card.
As far as Makhachev’s future is concerned, it’s safe to say that the outcome of his quest to win the 170-pound title could sway his decision regarding how long he wants to keep fighting. A bout against Topuria — should he defeat Oliveira — is still very enticing for fight fans around the world.
