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Islam Makhachev is undoubtedly one of the best lightweights in the UFC today. Seen by many fans as the heir to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s throne, Islam Makhachev has beaten nine opponents in the octagon, and is currently on an eight-fight win streak.
Islam Makhachev’s grappling, tenacity and heavy hands make him a very tricky fighter for anyone to beat. But there are a handful of lightweights in the UFC who are potentially stylistically bad matchups for him.
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Thankfully for Makhachev, ‘RDA’ is not amongst those stylistically bad matches. In fact, Makhachev is probably favoured to beat the ageing Brazilian handily. But if he manages that, he’ll probably take a step up the ladder, and may end up facing off with one of his highly dangerous foes.
Here are three current UFC lightweights who are stylistically bad matches for Islam Makhachev.
#3 Islam Makhachev vs Dustin Poirier
Following his back-to-back victories over Conor McGregor, who is still the UFC’s biggest superstar, Dustin Poirier is arguably the hottest fighter in the UFC lightweight division. While he isn’t likely to face Islam Makhachev any time soon, he could definitely be considered a bad stylistic match for the Dagestani.
It’d be unfair to call Islam Makhachev a one-dimensional fighter, as he has an excellent submission grappling game to go with his powerful wrestling, and he hits hard too. However, on the feet with Poirier, it’d probably be fair to suspect that Makhachev might be outgunned somewhat.
‘The Diamond’ has developed one of the best striking games in any division in the UFC, all based around his boxing, heavy hands and incredible pressure. Few fighters can back an opponent up quite like Poirier. If he can put his foe on the back foot, he loves to unleash brutal combinations until they wilt.
Poirier has defeated ultra-tough opponents like McGregor, Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje with his strikes. While he couldn’t finish them, his pressure was also too much for Max Holloway and Dan Hooker to handle.
And ‘The Diamond’ doesn’t need to worry about trading off, either – he’s been stopped with strikes just twice in his career, and one of those stoppages came in his first fight with McGregor at 145 lb. Realistically, Islam Makhachev’s heavy hands wouldn’t help him here.
The Dagestani’s only real path to victory against Poirier would be to take him down. However, ‘The Diamond’ has rock-solid takedown defense, blocking 61% of takedowns attempted on him.
The only man to really control Poirier on the ground? Khabib Nurmagomedov of course. And the fact that Islam Makhachev fights a lot like Khabib – and trains with him too – would naturally give him hope.
But right now, the truth is that Dustin Poirier would be a highly tricky stylistic match for Makhachev, and one that may be a step too far for him.
#2 Islam Makhachev vs Charles Oliveira
It’s hard to dispute the idea that Charles Oliveira, the current UFC lightweight champion, is the best 155lber on the planet in the current post-Khabib landscape.
art of the UFC roster since 2010, Oliveira has developed his game dramatically over the years. He is now seemingly capable of finishing any opponent from any area. Right now, he’s on an impressive nine-fight win streak in the octagon, with only one of his foes in this period - Tony Ferguson - lasting the distance.
It’s probably fair to say that should they fight, Islam Makhachev might fancy his chances against Oliveira. After all, the Dagestani lives by his powerful wrestling game, and unlike other lightweights like Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler, Oliveira doesn’t come from an amateur wrestling background.
‘Do Bronx’ does have solid wrestling prowess. He took down Ferguson in impressive fashion, but it’s definitely possible that Islam Makhachev could take him down.
However, while Makhachev has tended to dominate all of his opponents in the UFC on the mat in his prior fights, whether he could do the same to Oliveira is highly debatable.
That's because ‘Do Bronx’ is the most successful submission artist in UFC history, with a ridiculous 14 tap outs to his name. And his venomous submission game means any fighter he faces is simply never safe with him on the ground.
If you add in the fact that Oliveira has now begun to violently knock opponents out on the feet too, Islam Makhachev will find himself in a major quandary in a fight with the Brazilian: keep the fight standing and risk taking a heavy shot or take Oliveira down and attempt to fend off submissions.
This wouldn’t be an impossible fight for Makhachev to win, but it’d be very tricky simply due to Oliveira’s insane potency as a finisher.
#1 Islam Makhachev vs Justin Gaethje
While he isn’t the best lightweight in the UFC right now, there’s a very real argument that Justin Gaethje would probably represent the trickiest stylistic match in the division for Islam Makhachev. In fact, if the Dagestani has his eyes on the UFC lightweight title, it would be best for him to avoid this fight before he gets a shot.
It’s possible that no other 155lber on the planet hits quite as hard as Gaethje does. ‘The Highlight’ has beaten five opponents in the UFC, but none of them have lasted the distance with him. Even the ultra-tough Tony Ferguson - who has never been stopped via strikes - was starched at the hands of Gaethje.
But in a fight with Islam Makhachev, punching power wouldn’t be the only factor in Gaethje’s favour. ‘The Highlight’ also has superior hand speed to the Dagestani, meaning he could probably beat him to the punch and put him under tremendous pressure from the off as well.
And Gaethje also has absolutely vicious leg kicks, a weapon he tends to use to break his opponents down along the stretch, preventing them from getting too close to him.
Khabib Nurmagomedov might’ve beaten ‘The Highlight’ in his final UFC fight, but Gaethje even made a big impact on him. ‘The Eagle’ recently revealed that of all his UFC opponents, none hit him harder than Gaethje, who he described as hitting 'like a truck'.
Nurmagomedov’s gameplan apparently involved him allowing Gaethje to land some strikes in order to tire him out. But that’d be a hugely risky strategy for Islam Makhachev to attempt to replicate in a potential fight between the two.
While Makhachev is a great wrestler, could he take Gaethje down? It’s questionable. ‘The Highlight’ has perhaps the best takedown defense in the UFC lightweight division, as he has only been taken down four times in his octagon career, twice by Khabib.
Again, this wouldn’t be an impossible fight for Islam Makhachev. He’s a great fighter, after all. But it’d almost certainly represent the trickiest stylistic match for him that the UFC could offer right now.
