Islam Makhachev recently responded to the callout of ONE Championship double champ Christian Lee. Lee called out Makhachev after winning his second ONE title by dethroning former welterweight champ Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE on Prime Video 4.
Responding to Lee’s callout, Makhachev told the double champ to focus first on another Dagestani standout, Saygid Izagakhmaev.
Hours after Lee’s second title win, Izagakhmaev comfortably put away the legendary Shinya Aoki via first-round TKO at ONE 163.
Makhachev now wants to see Christian Lee test himself against Izagakhmaev to determine how good ‘The Warrior’ really is. The UFC lightweight champion wrote on Twitter:
“Ha! You better focus on your next contender Saygid Izagakhmaev, and we will see how good you are”
Saygid Izagakhmaev is the newest world title aspirant from the camp of Islam Makhachev’s childhood friend and teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov. ‘The Eagle’ congratulated Izagakhmaev in the aftermath of his victory, calling for a lightweight title shot for his fighter next.
Izagakhmaev also called out Lee for a shot at the ONE lightweight title, warning him to shift his focus from Makhachev.
Khabib Nurmagomedov claims Islam Makhachev will finish his next opponent
Islam Makhachev won the UFC lightweight title with a dominant submission win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 last month. The 31-year-old is now scheduled to defend his strap against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in February in Perth.
Former lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov expects Volkanovski to be a tougher opponent than Oliveira for his protege Makhachev. Nurmagomedov even claims to have informed Makhachev of the same.
While Nurmagomedov considers Oliveira and Volkanovski equal in terms of experience, he believes ‘The Great’ has a bigger heart and higher fight IQ than ‘do Bronx’. Regardless, ‘The Eagle’ is confident of Makhachev finishing Volkanovski in their UFC 284 clash.
“They both have good experience. But if you talk about fighting IQ and big heart, I think Volkanovski’s better than him. I think Volkanovski is gonna be tougher opponent for Islam than Charles Oliveira. But, anyways, who cares? We’re gonna finish this guy,” Nurmagomedov said at a recent press conference.
Watch Nurmagomedov’s presser below:
