Ex-UFC star issues brutally honest take on Islam Makhachev’s superiority over Charles Oliveira that might be Arman Tsarukyan’s kryptonite at UFC 311 

A former UFC fighter recently labeled Islam Makhachev as a better grappler than Charles Oliveira. He also mentioned how Makhachev might cause trouble for Arman Tsarukyan with those skills during the UFC 311 encounter.

Makhachev's UFC 280 encounter against Oliveira presented a clash between two accomplished grapplers in the sport. The Dagestani earned a submission victory over his Brazilian rival claiming the UFC lightweight gold, which he has been holding to date.

Makhachev's feat becomes more appreciable after learning that Oliveira currently holds the record for having the most number of submission victories in the UFC (16). He knocked Oliveira down with a right hook in the second round of the fight. But the Brazilian was quick to take his favorable BJJ guard position after getting floored.

Despite Oliveira's slick submission game, Makhachev didn't mind getting into his guard. The 33-year-old also finished the fight within a few more seconds with a head-and-arm choke. The former UFC lightweight, Josh Thomson, expressed his views about Makhachev's upcoming UFC 311 encounter against Arman Tsaukyan in the recent episode of the WEIGHING IN podcast.

Thomson opined that Makhachev was a better grappler than Oliveira after counting how his skills could trouble Tsarukyan during their fight:

"On the ground though, this is where I think the difference lies [between Makhachev and Tsarukyan]. Look for Islam to chase submission more so than try[ing] to get back to his feet, or to get to that top position. I think he’s gonna look to chase a submission. I think we saw in the Charles Oliveira fight how he [Oliveira] threatened him [Makhachev] several times… I know Charles is a world-class black belt [in BJJ] and he has the most submissions in the UFC. [But] Islam is a better grappler."

Check out Thomson's comments below (11:52):

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Arman Tsarukyan rated Islam Makhachev better than Khabib Nurmagomedov in a specific area of fighting

Most fighters from Khabib Nurmagomedov's team including Islam Makhachev, use their grappling skills as bread-and-butter to win fights. Just like Nurmagomedov, Makhachev's on-the-ground antics have also been appreciated by several UFC personalities like Josh Thomson.

However, Makhachev's upcoming rival, Arman Tsarukyan, recently mentioned that he was better than Nurmagomedov in a different field of the fight game. 'Ahalkalkets' may be counted Nurmagomedov as the better one in terms of ground game. However, in a recent interview with TNT Sports, he opined that Makhachev trumps Nurmagomedov in terms of well-roundedness:

"Islam is a new version of Khabib. He's more well-rounded than Khabib, but Khabib has better wrestling. His ground and pound way better. On the ground, Khabib one of the best"