A lot of fans are excited to see what Islam Makhachev looks like as a welterweight.
Makhachev vacated his lightweight title, which Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira will fight for at UFC 317, in order to challenge for the belt at the weight class above.
While the pound-for-pound number one has been dominant at 155 pounds, Jack Della Maddalena does pose a threat up at 170.
Daniel Cormier suggested that Makhachev needs to work on his wrestling, despite this being his strongest skillset, following Della Maddalena’s impressive win over Belal Muhammad.
A welterweight contender, who has trained with the former lightweight champion in the past, believes that this won’t be an issue for Makhachev, but another area might be.
Vicente Luque says the power will be the biggest challenge for Islam Makhachev at welterweight
Vicente Luque believes that the biggest challenge that Islam Makhachev will face when moving up to 170 pounds is the power difference.
The 22-fight UFC veteran has trained with the former lightweight champion in the past and is a staple of the promotion’s welterweight division.
Some fighters and analysts have suggested that Makhachev might be even better at a higher weight class now that he won’t be cutting as much weight to compete at 155 pounds.
Though he may not have a size advantage over his opponents at welterweight, Luque doesn’t expect this to be a big issue for the Russian when it comes to the grappling exchanges.
He told Inside Fighting that Makhachev is a very physically strong grappler but the size advantage might work against him when it comes to striking.
The pound-for-pound number one isn’t known as a particularly powerful striker and this could be emphasized when he’s competing with larger opponents.
“I don’t think he’s going to struggle with the grappling aspect of strength for grappling. He’s got a lot of strength for that. He’s got good conditioning. Obviously, we welterweights, we hit hard, especially guys like me, like Jack. Guys that are strikers, we do hit very hard. So I think that’s what’s going to be the biggest challenge but other than that, I give a big advantage to Makhachev.”
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Vicente Luque compares Islam Makhachev’s welterweight switch to Gilbert Burns
Vicente Luque stated that though he could feel how strong Islam Makhachev was when they trained together, it still felt like he was grappling with a lightweight.
However, he went on to say that he doesn’t believe that this will be something that holds him back at welterweight because he’ll be able to put more emphasis into his strength.
Luque went on to draw parallels between Makhachev and Gilbert Burns, who also trained with Luque as a lightweight before he moved up to 170 pounds where he found lots of success.
“I always told him [Burns], ‘Hey, you should move up because you’re very strong.’ Once he moved up, he was much stronger because he could really put in that weight. He could work different, work on his strength more. So that’s what I see in Makhachev.”