Khabib Nurmagomedov has backed his protege Islam Makhachev to finish former UFC champion Charles Oliveira inside three rounds.
Nurmagomedov has insisted Makhachev must fight Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title after the Brazilian was stripped of his belt at UFC 274 for missing weight. Oliveira went on to submit Justin Gaethje at the event to assert himself as the best lightweight in the promotion.
But Nurmagomedov thinks no matter how impressed fans were by Oliveira's recent performance, Makhachev is the better fighter. Predicting a fight between Oliveira and Makhachev, he wrote on Instagram : "My prediction is a maximum three rounds, no matter how good he is, Islam is better than him. Just remember these words."
Makhachev is emulating the dominance Nurmagomedov once had at 155lb, going unbeaten in his last 10 fights. The No.4 ranked Russian was due to fight top contender Beneil Dariush in February, but the fight was cancelled.
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He accused Oliveira of being scared to fight him whilst mocking his recent call outs of Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. "It's funny you're calling out Nate Diaz who hasn't won a fight in five years and at the same time saying I have to earn something. Just say it, you're scared to lose. Your jiu jitsu won't work in our fight and you know that," Makhachev wrote.
UFC boss Dana White said he still wants to make Makhachev fight Dariush, but wouldn't rule out the Russian fighting Oliveira for the vacant belt after Joe Rogan pressed him to make the fight. Oliveira thinks the promotion needs to rebook Makhachev against Dairush to decide the next title challenger.
“I think the reality is, Makhachev has to fight Dariush first,” Oliveira told Trocacao Franca. “They both have to fight and then we’ll see who we’re fighting or not. Makhachev is super tough and deserves all the respect in the world. Dariush is also super tough and has a great team."
“Everyone I beat, I’ve made it pretty clear. I never let it go the distance, I always finish them. Makhachev and Dariush are the two guys I haven’t fought yet and they both have to make this fight happen. Maybe [the next contender] comes from this fight. The thing is, it makes no difference to me. I’ll be ready. The champion’s name is Charles Oliveira.”
White said Oliveira will "100 per cent" fight for the vacant belt next. Oiveira's weigh-in fiasco marked the first time in promotional history a UFC champion has lost their title because of a weight miss.
