Islam Makhachev will step inside the UFC Octagon on Saturday to face Bobby Green. It will be a fresh match-up in the lightweight division with big implications. The winner is the most likely for challenging for the divisional championship next.
Islam Makhachev is the favourite to win the fight this Saturday and he has given a lot of the credit to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Makhachev is considered the protégé and the successor to Khabib’s throne at lightweight. During a recent interview, Islam Makhachev spoke about his the relationship between the two started.
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“I meet Khabib and his father. We went to the same school with Khabib and lived very close to the school. I know Khabib’s training (with) his father all this time. And I wanted to see where he’s training, who his coach is and I went to the same gym, training there.”
Islam Makhachev calls Khabib Nurmagomedov his coach and a big brother
Islam Makhachev has been on a roll since his only career defeat at UFC 192 in 2015. He will look to extend his win streak to 10. His mentor and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov will be at his corner during the main event of UFC Vegas 49. In the interview, the 30-year old explained what he learns from the former undisputed UFC 155lbs and what makes Khabib a good coach.
“We practised together all the time. I improve a lot because of him. Because all my life I compete with this champion. That’s why I improved a lot. He is my coach now. He has big experience in MMA. How he cuts weight, how he recovers, how he is training.”
“Now he’s retired. But he’s still training with us. He’s still helping us. Here now in the camp, we have 5 guys who have fights (coming up). He took care of everybody. He has come every day, watched sparring, he said what mistakes we did, what we (need to) change, where we have to improve.”
“He rented a big house for our team and spent a lot of time with the team. He’s my big brother because he came to US to support me and fix my all problems. I don’t have any problems. But when I have something, he helps me all the time.”
Will Islam Makhachev be fighting for the belt next? He recently predicted the outcome of the upcoming fight between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. Makhachev thinks a win over Bobby Green will ensure him the next crack at the championship.