Islam Makhachev has to pivot his long-term plans after UFC 304 . The reigning lightweight champion and pound-for-pound great has made it clear he hopes to one day become a two-division champion. The timeline for when Makhachev would attempt that goal has always been up in the air but racking up title defense always seemed like priority No.
1. At UFC 304 last month, Makhachev’s friend and training partner Belal Muhammad dethroned Leon Edwards by unanimous decision in their main event title fight rematch. The result was one the two noted ahead of time would not lead to them ever fighting.
An Edwards win would have been a different story, but despite the change, there’s still a chance Makhachev goes for a second divisional title with Muhammad as champion, according to coach Javier Mendez . It just wouldn’t be at welterweight. “That’s a good reason to fight Arman [Tsarukyan] or anybody else [at lightweight] and you get the most defenses in the lightweight history,” Mendez told Red Corner MMA .
“I can’t believe three is the record (laughs). That’s just amazing how it turns over. So many fighters have won titles there but they never kept it more than three title defenses so Islam will break a record, and I want to see him go down as one of the greatest of all time and I believe he’s on track to do that.
So, him defending that lightweight title is on track for that. Then after that, let’s see what happens. “Maybe Islam gains weight and goes 185.
I mean, he’.