Islam Makhachev makes surprising pitch to Demetrious Johnson: "Bring everybody, we will take care of them"

Islam Makhachev recently made a surprising pitch to Demetrious Johnson which highlighted his respect toward 'Mighty Mouse'. The Dagestani obviously holds the former UFC flyweight champion in high regard as he extended a very generous invitation.

Since retiring from MMA last year, 'Mighty Mouse' has continued his podcast and devoted more time into competing in grappling tournaments. Most recently, he spent time training with Makhachev's team and helped Umar Nurmagomedov prepare for his upcoming bantamweight title fight against Merab Dvalishvili. During the time he spent training with his team, Johnson also filmed some content for his YouTube channel, including a conversation with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

During his latest conversation with the former UFC flyweight champion on his YouTube channel, the lightweight champion extended an invitation for him to bring his whole family to Dagestan. Makhachev joked that Daniel Cormier has constantly delayed his visit, but invited Johnson to bring his kids so that they can learn about the work ethic of kids in his republic:

"You can come. You are like a very very big star [in Dagestan] because all kids watching MMA. Everybody love you. You can come with your family, bring everybody, we will take care of you...We try to invite 'DC' like last 10 years but he always say, 'I will come'...No, bring your kids also because to be champion, they want to see how these kids in Dagestan working." [1:01:30]

Check out the full interview featuring Islam Makhachev's comments below:

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Islam Makhachev discloses new hobby he has enjoyed

In addition to making a surprising pitch to Demetrious Johnson, Islam Makhachev disclosed what some of his hobbies are outside of fighting.

During the aforementioned interview, Makhachev mentioned that he enjoys riding his motorcycle but admitted that it will be something he enjoys more after retirement. The UFC reigning lightweight champion then disclosed that he enjoys playing padel, which has become a sport that has surged in popularity in recent years and one that has been an excellent workout:

"Now we have [a] new hobby, everybody love to play padel tennis...it's become popular now...It's like some big cage, same like tennis, but they have other racket and they have glass in back and the cage...We play three hours nonstop and we lose 2000 calories. One game, we lose 2000 calories." [1:02:40]

Check out Islam Makhachev's Instagram post about playing padel below: