“It’s already legendary, bro!” the undefeated Russian fighter wrote on social media, addressing his comrade.
Islam Makhachev, who holds the UFC lightweight title, has risen to No. 1 on the UFC’s P4P list, ousting reigning UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones. In doing so, Makhachev repeated the achievement of Nurmagomedov, who three years ago also deprived the American of the top spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Islam Makhachev, 32, won the vacant UFC lightweight championship belt last October by finishing Brazilian Charles Oliveira with an arm-triangle choke in the second round, then defended the title twice against Alexander Volkanovski, first defeating the Australian by unanimous decision and then knocking him out in the first round.
The Russian fighter may make his next title defense in March 2024 against Charles Oliveira or Justin Gaethje.