MMArcade podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cHe\u2019s got a really good game. He\u2019s like a springy, karate-esque fighter. He likes punching from outside the distance, loves to scramble, has the cardio to scramble, has really top-tier jiu-jitsu. <\/p>\n
Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena, bottom, grapples with Russia’s Islam Makhachev, top, during the second round of a welterweight title bout at the UFC 322 mixed martial arts event, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)Source: AP<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I think Islam would get it done. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf the fight becomes a scramble-off and a wrestle-off, Islam\u2019s going come out of it better just because he\u2019s built for it.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Khamzat) Chimaev would do the same, whereas GSP utilized the full toolbox of MMA. So he utilized his wrestling and his grappling to eventually stand back up, box your head off because you\u2019re worried about the takedown. Then he\u2019ll take you back down and do the same. <\/p>\n
\u201cIslam, he\u2019ll get you down, and you ain\u2019t getting back up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Makhachev, who racked up his sixteenth win at UFC 322, also reclaimed his position atop the pound-for-pound conversation.<\/p>\n
However, UFC outlaw Nate Diaz isn\u2019t convinced he should be there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just throw that s**t out like that,\u201d Diaz said on N3on\u2019s Twitch stream when asked if Makhachev should be considered the No.1.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike, he\u2019s been here for, like, two minutes and he ain\u2019t beaten nobody that\u2019s great. The best lightweight ever was B.J. Penn. B.J. Penn was beating up Matt Hughes and [Georges-St-Pierre] – did he beat \u2018GSP?\u2019 No, he beat his ass, but lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when you get s**t like that and you\u2019ve got whatever Islam did, it\u2019s like, that don\u2019t even match – Not that he can\u2019t be and won\u2019t be, though. But you\u2019re just going to throw GOAT at a motherf**ker when he just showed up on the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 14: UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre interacts with media during the final UFC 167 pre-fight press conference inside the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand Hotel\/Casino on November 14, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges\/Zuffa LLC\/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Diaz\u2019s comments won\u2019t surprise anyone who has followed his career – the former title challenger has spent years blasting fighters he believes rely on safety-first game plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey think I\u2019m f**king just hating because we\u2019ve got our differences, but there\u2019s s**t that I\u2019ve seen that I just remember forever and that\u2019s GOAT s**t,\u201d Diaz said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t seen nothing from them motherf**kers. I can\u2019t even remember anything but getting bored in all them fools last fights, so that name shouldn\u2019t even be thrown at those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Makhachev\u2019s got a stack of challengers lining up at welterweight, and UFC Qatar only added more to the list.<\/p>\n
Michael Morales and Carlos Prates made a statement at UFC 322 with highlight-reel wins, and now Ian Garry\u2019s thrown his hat in the ring after taking out former champ Belal Muhammad on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Straight after the fight, Garry demanded a shot at Makhachev, declaring himself the most deserving contender in the division.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that will be interesting,\u201d Makhachev responded on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s also a good fighter. He\u2019s on a good winning streak and he\u2019s young. I think it\u2019ll be interesting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see. He didn\u2019t surprise me yesterday. If he surprised the UFC, then maybe he will be next.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many believe that Shavkat Rakhmonov deserves the next shot at the title, but Makhachev isn\u2019t sold on the idea.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Shavkat] hasn\u2019t fought for over a year,\u201d Makhachev said. <\/p>\n
\u201cA contender can\u2019t sit out for a year with injuries and then come fight for the belt. We said hello, he congratulated me. We just shook hands. If he recovers, and the UFC decides he\u2019s next, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Either way, the new two-division champ reckons the UFC will make their decision in the near future.<\/p>\n
“I AM THE BEST IN THE WORLD!” | 02:49<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the UFC will decide soon,\u201d Makhachev said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday, there was a good fight. A former champion fought a young guy. I think we have at least three or four contenders now, and soon, probably in about two weeks, it will be clear who the next challenger will be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aussie UFC legend Robert Whittaker says he\u2019d side with Islam Makhachev in a fantasy showdown against the man…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-304861","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}