{"id":495587,"date":"2026-02-21T23:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T23:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495587\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T23:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T23:11:08","slug":"islam-makhachev-ufc-wants-a-street-fight-one-of-the-ufc-execs-told-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495587\/","title":{"rendered":"Islam Makhachev: UFC wants “a street fight”, “one of the UFC execs told me”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Islam Makhachev sees the UFC\u2019s focus on entertainment over athletic meritocracy informing who they keep on their roster and is openly discussing the matter. It is certainly a curious time for combatants who utilize a more grappling-centric methodology. With several notable cuts materializing with fighters who authored winning UFC records but not in an exciting way [ex: Rinat Fakhretdinov<\/a> or Martin Buday], it\u2019s not enough to simply go on lengthy winning streaks inside the octagon if the fights aren\u2019t fireworks every time.<\/p>\n

While more of a striking element has emerged in the post-Khabib Nurmagomedov blue-print as evidenced by the likes of Usman Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, that style of dominant top control with minimal positional advancement has still seemingly been demonstrably getting punished by the promotional brass with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In an interview via Ushatayka, with an excerpt posted to X account @acdmma_<\/a>, Makhachev said,<\/p>\n

\u201cI already tell the guys, you\u2019ve got to go out there and scrap. Those Dagestani fighters that just show up, dominate everyone, don\u2019t speak English, don\u2019t sell the fight, don\u2019t hype anything up; I think that type of fighter isn\u2019t interesting for the UFC anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they want is basically a street fight type of vibe, someone who just comes out and throws down. Some dudes lose 6 or 7 fights but they keep getting fights because they go out there and scrap every time, win or lose. I won\u2019t name names, but one of the UFC execs told me that they\u2019ve got guys like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Islam Makhachev isn\u2019t worried about Ian Machado Garry training in Georgia<\/p>\n

Islam Makhachev did not seem to register any kind of reaction at all regarding surging top welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry<\/a> making a special journey to the Caucasus Mountains to receive training. There are rumblings that Machado Garry may be the next up for a crack at the 170-pound crown, and it seems like he is seeking some fairly localized work to potentially take on the dominant Dagestan native for the UFC crown next.<\/p>\n

Explaining why he isn\u2019t particularly impressed by his potential next opponent going to Georgia for this camp here, Makhachev stated [via MMA Junkie],<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Georgia, he\u2019ll probably improve in some areas. I\u2019ve been wrestling my whole life, not just two-three months, so I don\u2019t care about that anymore. Throughout my recent fights, someone brings someone into their camps. They bring in some wrestlers or whatever. [Charles] Oliveira brought in some guy from the Iranian national team. Zero effect, so don\u2019t waste your time.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Islam Makhachev sees the UFC\u2019s focus on entertainment over athletic meritocracy informing who they keep on their roster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,27140,785,85,787],"class_list":{"0":"post-495587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-islam-makhachev","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-ufc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}