Islam Makhachev will be back in action this weekend as he takes on Bobby Green in a catchweight bout in the main event of UFC Vegas 49. However, initially, Makhachev was scheduled to take on Beneil Dariush in this title eliminator bout. But Beneil had to pull out due to an unfortunate last-minute injury. Thereafter the UFC offered Green this fight and he accepted this bout on a 10-day short notice.
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Despite the fact that King is currently unranked in the division, The Russian lightweight is on a nine-fight winning streak and a 10th successive win this weekend would help him earn a title shot against the winner of Oliveira vs Gaethje.
As we build up to this bout, in a recently concluded UFC Vegas 49 media interview, Islam Makhachev offered his prediction for the title bout between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. “I think Oliveira is gonna beat Justin Gaethje. And 11 fight win streak vs 10 fight win streak this is gonna be big fight for all MMA fans,” said Islam.
Thereafter Makhachev explained how Oliviera would defeat Gaethje to retain his title. “I think he’s gonna finish him. I think he’s gonna striking with him in the first round. And after he gonna take him down. I think he’s gonna choke him.”
Islam Makhachev downplays Charles Oliveira’s wrestling skills
After Islam Makhachev predicted that Charles Oliveira will defend his title against Justin Gaethje, the interviewer asked the Russian lightweight whether Charles Do Bronx would present him the toughest challenge in his career.
To which Makhachev responded by praising Oliveira’s grappling skills. However, he believes that the Brazilian lightweight won’t be much of a challenge and he downplayed the lightweight champion’s wrestling skills.
“It’s gonna be a good fight because we almost have the same style. You know he have good grappling skills, he have good striking skills and it’s going to be a good fight. I don’t think it’s going to be hard for me. I can take him down easy because I know he don’t have good wrestling skills but his grappling is high level and we will see who is better there.”
As of now, Islam has a tough challenge in hand in the form of Bobby Green. It is needless to say that this is an exciting matchup as both these lightweights have different strengths and weaknesses. Therefore it would be interesting to see which fighter comes out on top in this main event bout.
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