Charles Oliveira‘s new wrestling coach has a hot take – Islam Makhachev is a better wrestler than Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Much has been said about Makhachev being the second coming of Nurmagomedov. However, Alireza Noei – a decorated Iranian wrestler and Oliveira’s new coach – thinks Makhachev is an even better wrestler than the former UFC lightweight champion.
Not that Noei disregards Nurmagomedov’s grappling skills. But according to ‘Alireza,’ Nurmagomedov isn’t necessarily a wrestler, to begin with. Instead, the Iranian thinks he’s more of a Sambo fighter.
“Charles Oliveira’s adversary, Islam Makhachev, is very good at wrestling. I think better than Khabib, who is another athlete from Dagestan. He is better… He is a wrestler, Khabib isn’t. Khabib is a sambo fighter. Islam has also done Sambo, but he is a wrestler first and then a Sambo fighter and then an MMA fighter.”
Charles Oliveira’s coach confident ‘do Bronx’ won’t get taken down by Islam Makhachev
Charles Oliveira will face Islam Makhachev for the vacant lightweight title in the main event of UFC 280 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on October 22.
Despite being the division’s de facto champ, ‘do Bronx’ is listed as a sizeable betting underdog. That’s because many critics are concerned that while Oliveira’s jiu-jitsu is off-the-charts, he could be susceptible to getting controlled on the mat by Makhachev.
See the tweet below:
However, coach Alireza Noei – who was brought to Chute Boxe with the sole purpose of helping fighters in the camp improve their wrestling – is confident that Oliveira is more than capable of fending off his opponent’s offense. Noei told Sherdog:
“We have been working together for the last four years and I’m really impressed by how he has evolved. Even for myself, who always competed in high level wrestling, [it] is hard to take him down. He is good both attacking and defending.”
The 36-year-old wrestling savant added:
“We are working in all techniques, but I really don’t think Islam will take him down. In case he takes Charles down, it will not be so easy to stabilize [him] like other opponents he faced.”
Watch the interview in the clip below:
