Makhachev is scheduled to move up in weight to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the UFC welterweight championship on November 15. The superfight will headline UFC 322 at the famed Madison Square Garden arena in New York City.
While Makhachev has already cemented his legacy as a lightweight, he can further etch his name in the history books if he can capture the title from Maddalena before the end of 2025. MMAJunkie.comMichael Bisping explained how big of a win it would be for Makhachev at UFC 322.
“It doesn’t sound good,” Bisping said. “Maybe I don’t give him credit there. If you look at Anderson Silva, his second fight in the UFC, he became a champion. He beat Chris Leben and then Rich Franklin to become a champion. So the majority of those 16 wins were title defenses. That’s a little bit different. When you talk about Jon Jones, there’s a lot of title defenses in there as well. The same goes for Georges St-Pierre.”
“I’m certainly not criticizing Islam Makhachev’s career. I’m not nitpicking or discrediting it at all. … If he gets the job done, I think without a doubt he deserves to be in that conversation.”
Maddalena is a tough test for Makhachev. “JDM” is a natural welterweight who defeated Makhachev’s teammate Belal Muhammad to capture the gold in May. Maddalena demonstrated solid takedown defense and high-level boxing, which many believe could be the keys to thwarting Makhachev.
Makhachev hasn’t lost a pro MMA fight since a stunning knockout loss to Adriano Martins in 2015. Since that loss, Makhachev has been on a 15-fight winning streak. He’s gone a full decade without losing another fight, and he’ll look to keep that streak alive.
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