{"id":640269,"date":"2026-04-30T09:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640269\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T09:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:25:08","slug":"islam-makhachev-starts-training-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640269\/","title":{"rendered":"Islam Makhachev Starts Training Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>UFC <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/division\/welterweight\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Welterweight<\/a> Champion <a href=\"https:\/\/admin.boxingnews.com\/tag\/islam-makhachev\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Islam Makhachev<\/a> confirmed that he has entered the initial stages of a new fight camp, fueling speculation that his title defense is imminent.<\/p>\n<p>While the UFC has yet to issue a formal press release, reports suggest Makhachev is slated to defend his 170-pound crown against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 this August in Philadelphia. When asked during a recent interview if the rumors of his return were true, the champion joked, \u201cHow does Instagram know that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Makhachev clarified that while he is indeed back in the gym, the current phase of his camp is primarily focused on re-establishing his conditioning and strength before diving into sparring. The start of camp in late April aligns perfectly with an August 15 headliner, giving the Dagestani champion a full 15-week preparation time. By confirming the start of his camp, Makhachev has essentially verified that a deal is in place for a summer return.<\/p>\n<p>Makhachev\u2019s Return<\/p>\n<p>This would mark Makhachev\u2019s first defense of the <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/division\/welterweight\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">welterweight<\/a> title he won last November, as he seeks to cement his legacy as the greatest multi-weight champion in the sport\u2019s history. Based on their prior interaction, Islam vs. Garry appears very likely. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst you say you have a hand injury. Dana [White] said August, you\u2019re saying July \u2013 I\u2019ve been ready since you last turned me down in May. We\u2019re all waiting on you, princess,\u201d Garry said<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t worry about my injuries. I\u2019m ready at any time. I\u2019m waiting for the contract,\u201d Makhachev stated<\/p>\n<p>Find all the\u00a0latest\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/admin.boxingnews.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">boxing news<\/a>\u00a0and MMA breaking updates on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boxingblitz.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">boxingnews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC Welterweight Champion Islam Makhachev confirmed that he has entered the initial stages of a new fight camp,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-640269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640269","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=640269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}