UFC lightweight champion and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Islam Makhachev is confident ahead of his high-stakes title defense on Saturday.
UFC lightweight champion and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Islam Makhachev is gearing up for a high-stakes title defense on Saturday against top contender Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311 at the brand new Intuit Dome in Inglewood. The two 155-pounders last met in 2019, when Makhachev secured a unanimous decision victory. Tsarukyan has since been on an impressive run, going 9–1 and earning his shot at the title in the first UFC PPV of the year.
Makhachev made a bold prediction for the upcoming fight, signaling his intent to finish Tsarukyan decisively. "For sure, any small chance I will finish him first round, second, third, but I think it's gonna be under three rounds. I will finish him. I will look always, all my fights, if I have a small chance, I finish people. But this fight I have more motivation to finish him because last fight distance and like people say, Arman good fights.
The lightweight king is clearly driven to leave no doubts about his dominance in the division and will also be attempting to make history as the first fighter in the division to defend the title four times, surpassing the likes of Hall of Famers B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar. Beyond this fight, Makhachev acknowledged the lack of contenders in a division that he’s run through and dismantled, but he remains focused solely on Tsarukyan. The 33-year-old said he will be evaluating future plans with his coaches Khabib Nurmagomedov, Javier Mendez and team after this bout.
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