Islam Makhachev’s trainer, Javier Mendez, made an unexpected criticism of the ranking of the best UFC fighters, regardless of weight category, in which the Russian lightweight took second place after defeating Charles Oliveira.
“Listen, you know this as well as I do – Islam took second place in the P4P UFC rankings in just one fight. How? ”, – said the American specialist in an interview with MMA Junkie. “I know he is good and I believe he is number one, but giving him second place in the rankings in just one fight is not. In my heart I know that in time he will become number one. Everything is simple. He will take first place. But they put him in second place because of one fight. I do not like it. It was done too fast.”
According to Mendes, Makhachev will become the rightful leader in the ranking of the best UFC fighters, regardless of weight, after he beats Alex Volkanovski and Benil Dariush.
“He needs to do more, that’s what I believe. He needs to beat Volkanovski and then Dariusz. He needs to beat these guys so he can be called number one. Look what Volkanovski did – he wiped the floor with all the contenders in his division. He cleared them all, and Islam must do the same. Again, I feel like he’s the best, but to get that status, he has to kill everyone, that’s how it works. Here’s what I think about it”
Recall that the first defense of the UFC lightweight championship belt Islam Makhachev will hold on February 12 at UFC 284 in Perth against the current UFC featherweight title holder Alex Volkanovski, who heads the P4P UFC rating.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/30121-trener-makhacheva-nazval-nezasluzhennym-mesto-rossiyanina-v-rejtinge-ufc.html?rand=19907
