Following UFC 315 and Dana White’s recent update, Islam Makhachev will have his wish granted.
The lightweight champion has spoken about challenging himself at welterweight for some time and that is now set to be his next move.
Makhachev will face Jack Della Maddalena for the 170 pound title in the future though a date hasn’t been announced at this time.
In the meantime, Ilia Topuria will face Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight belt at UFC 317 after Makhachev vacated his 155 pound gold to move up.
Some expect that the Russian will be even better at this new weight class with a man that knows a lot about competing in different divisions going one step further than that.
- READ MORE: Ilia Topuria explains key advantage he holds over Charles Oliveira ahead of UFC 317 title fight
Anatoly Malykhin says Islam Makhachev can replicate his feat in becoming a three-division champion
Anatoly Malykhin believes that Islam Makhachev’s lightweight dominance won’t just transfer over to the welterweight division.
He believes that the pound-for-pound number one could also achieve the same success in the UFC’s middleweight division if he continued to move through weight classes.
Malykhin is a current two-division titleholder in ONE Championship having previously made history by holding three belts at the same time.
He dethroned Arjan Bhullar and Reinier de Ridder (twice) to win the ONE middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight titles before suffering his first defeat last November.
The Russian has had interactions with Makhachev in the past, with the UFC star declaring him the “most dangerous guy in the planet” after he achieved his three-weight goals.
Malykhin told Bloody Elbow in a recent interview that he doesn’t believe that anybody would be able to stop Makhachev from replicating this accomplishment if he set his mind to it.
“When it comes to Islam Makhachev, I’m just in love with his style. He has an awesome style and I think at 84 kilos (184 pounds), he can easily beat the current champ and he can become three-weight champion like I did in the past.
“I really think he can because he has a unique style, he trains with the best team in the world and he was trained by the best coach in the world. I do not have any advice for him. People like Islam should be giving me advice.”
Anatoly Malykhin is looking to reclaim the favorite of his three belts in the near future
After going 14-0 during his three-weight dominance, Anatoly Malykhin suffered a shock defeat in the main event of ONE 169 last November.
He lost his heavyweight title to Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane via split decision but ‘Sladkiy’ wants his belt back.
The 37-year-old is motivated to correct the mistakes that he made in this fight so that he can get revenge over Kane and go back to holding three belts.
Malykhin told Bloody Elbow that the fight has already been booked but ONE Championship is yet to announce the full details.
“Actually, the date has been set already. Unfortunately, I cannot share with you the date. I think the promotion will do it but slowly, steadily, I’m starting to get ready.”