The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 149: Overeem vs. Oleinik

#2 Worst: Why was Makhachev faced with a debutant?

Islam Makhachev needs a step up in competition next time out

Okay, so I’m definitely not complaining about the fight between Islam Makhachev and newcomer Arman Tsarukyan – it was a ton of fun, with some crazy grappling exchanges and scrambles, and the two men were justifiably given the ‘Fight of the Night’ award. But realistically, there’s just no way this fight should’ve been happening.

Tsarukyan looks every bit the hot prospect and at 13-2 he may yet develop into a contender, but quite why he was matched with Makhachev is a mystery to me. Makhachev – a training partner of current UFC Lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov – has been in the UFC since 2015, was 5-1 coming into yesterday’s show, and hasn’t lost since October 2015.

Lightweight is probably the UFC’s most stacked division, so was it really the case that the UFC couldn’t find a higher-ranked opponent for Makhachev than an Octagon newcomer? I don’t buy that personally, and given the fight was the co-main event last night I don’t think it’s a case of the UFC not wanting to showcase him either.

That means potential opponents are likely ducking Makhachev, which is probably a seriously frustrating situation for the Dagestani fighter. At any rate, he won last night and looked excellent, so can we please get him a high-level opponent next time out?