Islam Makhachev appears to have made it over one of his biggest hurdles in moving up to welterweight, according to a close friend and teammate.
Magomed Magomedov is a PFL star who competes on October 3 at their second event in Dubai, and has been training alongside the legendary lightweight champion. And he has been able to watch as Makhachev moved up from 155lb to 170lb in pursuit of a second belt.
Earlier this year, the Russian claimed that he was struggling to get up in weight and maintain his gains as he prepares for a second title. But Makhachev now has a fight date and seems to be handling the transition a bit better, according to Magomedov.
- Who is Islam Makhachev? Step inside the life of the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet
Islam Makhachev ‘looks big’ as weight gain issue dispelled by teammate ahead of UFC 322
Speaking exclusively with Bloody Elbow ahead of his own fight with Sergio Pettis on October 3 in Dubai, Magomed Magomedov opened up about the inner workings of a training camp at Khabib Nurmagomedov’s gym.
This includes Islam Makhachev and his preparations for November, when he faces Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 in Madison Square Garden. “Islam is looking big right now,” he explained. “He’s already gained a lot of muscle and he’s changed his training partners.
“He looks like a different person right now, he’s getting there and he still has a lot of time until November. I think he’s going to be looking really good by the time the fight comes in. I think it’s going to be a great fight.”
Islam Makhachev has a ‘more versatile’ skillset than Jack Della Maddalena
The belief within Makhachev’s team is that he will be able to not only deal with Della Maddalena’s striking, but be dominant in those exchanges. This means that he may not even need to use his superior wrestling.
“If anything it’ll be easy for Islam on the weight cut and Della Maddalena is big and doing a weight cut so he will seem smaller,” Magomedov continued. “I think considering his skillset Islam is more versatile.
“Because wrestling is obviously his strong suit but I don’t think he’s going to be anything short in the stand-up. I think Islam is going to be the one dishing out the blows.”