Islam Makhachev sent a PFL star on a six-fight winning streak to sleep with a choke in a recent training video.
Former UFC lightweight champion Makhachev is back in training as he prepares for his move up to welterweight, where he will take on Jack Della Maddalena for a second world title. That bout is expected to take place at UFC 322 in November, after Khabib Nurmagomedov leaked plans last week.
And in preparation for the fight, Makhachev was in the gym with Makkasharip Zaynukov, who recently won his second PFL outing in South Africa. While training, he put his teammate to sleep with a choke, before showing off further submissions.
- Who is Islam Makhachev? Step inside the life of the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet
Islam Makhachev chokes teammate unconscious in bizarre new training video
Islam Makhachev was seen in a recent gym video, reposted by Red Corner MMA on X, training with Makkasharip Zaynukov. The session seemed to be lighthearted, but the UFC legend did choke his teammate until he was convulsing.
“Go to sleep,” Makhachev is reported to be saying in the video to Zaynukov, urging him not to tap out. “Go to sleep, Sharip. Don’t give up.” Once the lightweight begins flopping around on the ground, Makhachev stops, and asks him if he had gone to sleep.
There is a second part to the video where Makhachev puts Zaynukov in another submission, and Makhachev can be seen reportedly saying: “Look at the way he’s resisting, Sharip said nobody could submit him.”
Islam Makhachev is struggling to get up to welterweight for next title fight
In that video, Makhachev is training with another lightweight, and it appears that bulking to a point where he can cut to welterweight is proving tough for the Russian. Unlike his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev has always made weight professionally, and seems suitably sized for 155lb.
And speaking with MMA Junkie earlier this year, he noted that getting weight on after years of staying in shape for a cut to 155lb has proven difficult. His teammate Gadzhi Rabadanov alluded to that same issue in an interview with Bloody Elbow ahead of his own PFL final next week.
“Maybe he has become a little bit bigger than before, I don’t know,” Rabadanov explained. “Maybe he’s working a little bit more on lifting, power, I don’t know what condition he will come in for the fight.
“But now he is the same guy, he’s not big and after a couple of months I still don’t really know what’s going to happen.”