“I think Islam is trying to avoid a fight with me – he feels I will win,” the Russian told Morning Kombat. “It’s better for him to fight Puryear than me, because I’m more dangerous for him – I know how to fight. Maybe he’ll make more money with Dustin – maybe that’s also why he’s so interested in fighting him”
“Either way, it doesn’t matter to me. My focus is on Charles Oliveira and after this fight we’ll talk. I must not lose focus because Charles is one of the best in our division and this is for me the biggest fight of my career that I’m looking forward to. Everyone knows that the winner of our fight will fight for the title – there’s no doubt about that”
A week ago, Dustin Puryear put his career back on track with a second-round knockout of dangerous French prospect Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299 in Miami, after which Islam Makhachev expressed interest in a fight with “The Diamond” and the American agreed to fight the Russian.
Recall that the challenger fight between Arman Tsarukyan and Charles Oliveira will be part of the UFC 300 tournament, which will take place on April 13 in Las Vegas.