Yaroslav Amosov is “much better” than Islam Makhachev in specific area, says TUF champion

Yaroslav Amosov has a significant lead over Islam Makhachev, according to someone who has worked directly with the former. This fighter in question is Daniil Donchenko, and he’s been honing his skills under several championship-caliber people at Syndicate MMA. Merab Dvalishvili is certainly a notable name from the gym. But Yaroslav Amosov is also honing his skills there, and the latter was involved in Donchenko’s corner for his last fight in the UFC.

Delving into some of the quality people he surrounds himself with and then also analyzing some of the bigger welterweight players in the UFC, Donchenko said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Of course John Wood, my head coach from Syndicate, coach of the year. Lots of muscle, but he’s smart, you know [laughs]. He is a smart, smart coach and I like the atmosphere in Syndicate [MMA]. I love the energy in this gym and I love John Wood’s energy. He’s smart. Smart and nice. So it is the most important thing with good energy. Then it’s Yaroslav Amosov, ex-Bellator champion, future UFC champion. Because this man is like that; he is different.”

“People will understand this soon. Now they just put some comments, oh Makhachev can punch, can beat him. But one thing I can say, Yaroslav Amosov, he can wrestle and grapple much better than Islam Makhachev and even than Khamzat Chimaev. So just give this man time and fight and he will prove it. He doesn’t need five, six fights for the title. Give him one more and the title, he is ready. Only this fight makes sense for me because only Yaroslav can defend and tear down Islam.”

Yaroslav Amosov and another prominent fighter would be Islam Makhachev’s toughest UFC tests, according to Donchenko

When explaining why a fight between Yaroslav Amosov and Islam Makhachev is the best fight you can make at 170 pounds in the UFC, while looking at other prominent division figures, Donchenko said: [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“So only this fight makes sense to me because someone else is fighting in this weight class. It’s not really competitive. Because no one has this kind of grappling and grappling. Maybe only [Michael] Morales will be interesting with Islam because Morales has a better chance because he has knockout power. So everything can change at any moment.”

“But another division like Kamaru [Usman]Everyone else doesn’t have this kind of struggle. Maybe Shavkat Rakhmonov but we saw that he was hurt, you know. So just interesting fight[s] against Makhachev it is Ilia Topuria and Yaroslav Amosov.”