Islam Makhachev’s former opponent predicts Team Khabib pedigree could fail Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 against Merab Dvalishvili

One of Islam Makhachev's former rivals recently opined how Umar Nurmagomedov's Team Khabib-influenced fighting tactics might fall flat against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311.

The former rival of Makhachev in the discussion here is Alexander Volkanovski, also one of the most respected featherweight champions in the promotion's history. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, 'The Great' gave an in-depth analysis of the top four main card fights of UFC 311.

While discussing the Nurmagomedov vs. Dvalishvili co-main event of the night, Volkanovski highlighted how Makhachev and Nurmagomedov possess comparable fighting styles due to their ties to Team Khabib. He also mentioned how most of the Team Khabib members, including Makhachev and Nurmagomedov, possess a "safe" fighting style despite excelling in their games.

However, Volkanovski opined that the Team Khabib-inspired fighting style may not prove to be of much use for Nurmagomedov in his UFC 311 fight. The Australian mentioned that Dvalishvili's constant pressure could overwhelm Nurmagomedov:

"All those guys, Islam, Khabib, and even Umar - very, very safe fighters. Even if they want to pressure, they do everything without taking too much risk… They’re not used to someone… [like] Merab, [who] will take risk. He puts forward a lot of pressure. He did a great job against Sean O’Malley [at UFC 306]."

Check out Volkanovski's comments below (7:44):

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Alexander Volkanovski may become the only featherweight who challenged Islam Makhachev for the title

Alexander Volkanovski got two opportunities to seize the UFC lightweight title from Islam Makhachev. However, the Australians suffered defeats in both of them despite having a pretty close encounter at UFC 284. The current featherweight champ, Ilia Topuria, has also expressed wishes to lock horns with Makhachev with the UFC lightweight gold on the line.

But in a recent appearance on Demetrious Johnson's Mighty podcast, the Dagestani mentioned that he was done with giving chances to featherweight contenders. Makhachev opined that beating featherweights wouldn't do his reputation any good in the UFC community. He said:

"I want to be double champ, and I just waiting for my chance. [It does] not makes sense [to] give the third [chance to] some guy who come [from featherweight]. I beat Volkanovski twice, [but] people still say, 'You beat [a] small[er] guy. He's not in your weight division.' If I beat Topuria, it's going to be same."

Check out Islam Makhachev's comments below (52:31):