5 reasons why Islam Makhachev is a more interesting challenger for Charles Oliveira than Justin Gaethje

#2. Islam Makhachev’s win streak is more impressive than Justin Gaethje’s

Islam Makhachev is on a lengthy winning run right now dating back to 2016

While both men are threats to Charles Oliveira, it’s fair to suggest that Justin Gaethje has defeated bigger-name fighters than Islam Makhachev has at this point in both men’s UFC careers.

‘The Highlight’ holds wins over Donald Cerrone, Tony Ferguson, Edson Barboza and Michael Chandler. All four of those fighters have been regular headliners for the UFC, with Ferguson standing as a former interim lightweight champion.

In comparison, Makhachev’s biggest wins are probably Dan Hooker and Thiago Moises – two highly ranked fighters, but also less established names than Gaethje’s victims.

However, if you judge by their actual win streaks, then it’s easy to see that Makhachev is probably more deserving of a shot at Charles Oliveira.

The last time the Dagestani tasted defeat in the octagon was way back in October 2015 when he was stopped by Adriano Martins in his lone career loss.

Since then, Makhachev has reeled off a total of nine wins in a row in the octagon, somehow looking more impressive with each win despite stepping up in competition incrementally. That streak puts him behind only Charles Oliveira himself in the division right now.

In contrast, Gaethje has lost three bouts inside the octagon, and has only picked up one win – his epic victory over Chandler – since his most recent loss.

However good that win over Chandler was, is it fair to have a fighter on a one-fight winning run ahead of someone who has nine wins in a row? Probably not.

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#1. A fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev might be the bigger fight right now

A fight between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira might be the closest thing to Oliveira vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

On the surface of it, there’s probably an argument that Justin Gaethje is a bigger star for the UFC than Islam Makhachev.

‘The Highlight’ has been a headliner ever since he moved to the UFC in 2017. He’s main evented a total of seven events during his tenure with the promotion, including two major pay-per-views in the form of UFC 249 and UFC 254.

However, it’s probably safe to say that on both pay-per-views – no offense intended – Gaethje was the “b-side” of the headline bout against two bigger stars in Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Essentially, while Gaethje is a known name, he isn’t a genuine superstar or major drawing card at this point.

Makhachev is not a superstar either, but he does have one major thing going for him and that’s his connection with his friend and training partner, Khabib.

The biggest possible fight for the UFC to make at lightweight right now would be between Khabib and Charles Oliveira – but obviously, due to ‘The Eagle’ retiring in 2020, that isn’t possible.

However, a proxy war of sorts between Charles Oliveira and Makhachev could easily be sold as the next best thing. With Khabib in Makhachev’s corner, it could become almost as big a fight as the real deal would be.

Add in the outside chance of Khabib being willing to return for a fight with Charles Oliveira if he were to beat Makhachev – it’s a classic story, after all – and it’s probably safe to say that the UFC could make more money overall by booking ‘Do Bronx’ against the Dagestani than Gaethje.