Darren Till was mega impressed with Islam Makhachev at UFC 259, hailing the 29-year-old one of the best grapplers in the world following his technical masterclass against Drew Dober.
“Islam is possibly the best grappler, one of the best grapplers I have seen,” Till said of Makhachev following his flawless performance against Dober (h/t Ryan Galloway of Low Kick MMA). “Oh my god, that pressure on top, he doesn’t really punch, just the pressure you see what he does with his shoulders and hips and transferring his weight one side to the other. Honest to god, phenomenal.”
Till, who competes at middleweight, is also a huge fan of Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier but believes Makhachev could be the future of the lightweight division.
“I’m a big fan of Charles Oliveira, obviously Dustin is me main man, the top five in Lightweight is disgustingly good but Islam can definitely be one of them, I think he can be champion,” Till said.
Makhachev, who trains out of Dagestan with UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, has called for a top-five opponent following his decision win over Dober. The Sambo powerhouse is on a seven-fight win streak and currently #11 in the UFC lightweight rankings.
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