Well-known sportswriter, Ariel Helwani, believes that Islam Makhachev defeated Alexander Volkanovski, however, he is convinced that the current UFC lightweight champion is inferior in skill to his friend and teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“I’m sorry, but Islam is not as good as Khabib,” the reporter said in the next issue of the “MMA Hour” program. “At this stage, 26 fights, Khabib was more perfect and dominant – he was the best. At the same time, Makhachev is one of the top three fighters on the planet. I know that it is impossible to criticize Islam Makhachev, I know that this is a taboo. And I say he won the fight! He won it absolutely honestly, and I say this as impartially as possible. ”
“We all put our hopes on Makhachev, we take the baton that Khabib had and pass it on to him because we want to see the continuation of this dynasty, but this is not the same. Now Islam is not the same guy. How do I know this? Yes, because Khabib was never knocked out by Adriano Martins, and never got into a situation where he was beaten in the fifth round.
Recall that last weekend at UFC 284 in Perth, Islam Makhachev successfully defended the UFC lightweight championship belt, defeating Alexander Volkanovski, who owns the UFC featherweight title, by unanimous decision in five rounds.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/30795-ariel-khelvani-makhachev-ne-tak-khorosh-kak-khabib.html?rand=19907
