Khabib Nurmagomedov's coach Javier Mendez has named his teammate Islam Makhachev as the No.1 lightweight of all time - ahead of the legendary former champion.
Makhachev will finally get his chance at the gold later this month at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, when he faces top-ranked lightweight Charles Oliveira for the vacant title. And with two weeks until fight night, his coach believes that Makhachev is showing signs of being the greatest in the history of his weight class.
Oliveira is the champion in all but name, winning the belt last year after Nurmagomedov had vacated it, and winning his following two defences against Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. He missed weight by half-a-pound for the Gaethje bout and was stripped of the belt as a result, meaning the title was only on the line for Gaethje in that fight.
