“I told them I was ready to fight in March, but they offered me a fight for early February when I had a small injury,” MMA Junkie quoted the Russian fighter as saying. “They said they had no options for March, and I replied, ‘OK, I have the belt, so just give me someone. I’ll be ready.'”
“I know Dustin doesn’t deserve a title fight, but we don’t have any other options right now. Everybody’s busy and I want to fight. I want to do three fights this year. I need to call someone up and Puryear is available right now. He put on a great performance and authored a beautiful knockout. He’s not busy, he’s healthy, and I’ve offered him a fight in June. No one else will be ready and I need the fight.”
According to Makhachev, he doesn’t think his fight with Puryear will go to a judges’ decision.
“I’m healthy, I train every day, and I need an opponent. Dustin Puryear has beaten a lot of top guys, he’s a legend. Fighting him will be good for my story. He’s a tough opponent and he has a good guillotine. I’m going to move him, he tries a guillotine, and I’m going to take his back and choke him out. That’s it.”
Recall that last week, Dustin Porier, ranked third in the UFC lightweight rankings, put his career back on track with a second-round knockout of French prospect Benoit Saint-Denis, who was riding an impressive streak of five early wins.