The Fighter Khabib Left Behind
When Khabib Nurmagomedov retired in October 2020, the unanimous question in MMA was simple: who fills the void? The answer had been training alongside him in Dagestan and at the American Kickboxing Academy for years. Islam Makhachev didn’t inherit Khabib’s belt through nepotism or hype — he earned it through the same relentless wrestling-based pressure that made his mentor a legend, and then built something unmistakably his own on top of it.
Today, Makhachev holds the UFC lightweight title, sits atop virtually every pound-for-pound ranking in the sport, and has defended his belt against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski twice — winning both times. He is, by most serious assessments, the best mixed martial artist on the planet right now.
From Makhachkala to the Octagon
Islam Makhachev was born on October 27, 1991, in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan in southern Russia. The same city, the same wrestling culture, the same deep combat sports tradition that produced Khabib Nurmagomedov also shaped Makhachev. The two were close in age, trained in the same gyms, and came up through the same Dagestani wrestling pipeline — one of the most rigorous combat sports development systems in the world.
The Khabib connection was real and consequential. Makhachev trained under Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov — Khabib’s father and the legendary Dagestani coach who shaped both fighters’ fundamental grappling identities. When he later relocated to train at AKA in San Jose under Javier Mendez, the technical wrestling base was already fully formed. Mendez simply added to it.
Makhachev began competing in MMA in 2010. By the time he signed with the UFC, he had gone 4-0 as a professional, with all four wins coming by submission or TKO. The UFC debut came in 2015, and for a while, everything went according to plan.
The One Loss — and the Response
In October 2015, at UFC Fight Night 77 in Buenos Aires, Makhachev ran into Adriano Martins and lost by TKO in the first round. It was the only blemish on his record, and it remains there today. He was 24 years old.
What followed was the real story. Over the next six-plus years, Makhachev did not lose again. He built a lengthy UFC winning streak that became the measuring stick for how quickly a lightweight contender could legitimately rise through the ranks. His fights had a pattern that was impossible to miss: suffocating top control, beautifully timed takedowns off the clinch, and a submission game deep enough to finish anyone who gave him time on the ground.
The victories came against increasingly credible opponents — Drew Dober, Thiago Moises, Bobby Green — and each one featured the same structural dominance. By 2021 and 2022, Makhachev wasn’t just winning; he was finishing fights with a clinicality that felt surgical. The lightweight division began to understand what it was dealing with.
UFC 280: The Night He Arrived
On October 22, 2022, at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, Islam Makhachev fought Charles Oliveira for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship. Oliveira had vacated the belt on a technicality before the event — a weight miss on the pre-fight scale — but the fight itself was for the title regardless. Both men came in as legitimate champions of their eras.
Makhachev finished Oliveira in Round 2 with a rear naked choke, confirming what the grappling-informed community had been saying for two years: his ground control was elite enough to dismantle even the UFC’s most dangerous submission artist. The finish was clean, composed, and comprehensive. He left Abu Dhabi as the UFC Lightweight Champion.
For the full picture of the lightweight division and where Makhachev’s reign fits historically, see the UFC Lightweight Rankings breakdown.
The Volkanovski Challenge — Twice
Makhachev’s first title defense at UFC 284 in Perth in February 2023 was the clearest test of his pound-for-pound status: a voluntary step up against Alexander Volkanovski, the UFC Featherweight Champion who carried serious P4P credentials of his own. Volkanovski is a generational talent at 145 lbs — one of the most technically complete fighters in UFC history. Moving up to challenge the lightweight champion was an audacious call.
Makhachev won by unanimous decision. It was not without controversy — Volkanovski was competitive, and some felt the scorecards were closer than 3-0 suggested — but the outcome was clear enough that both sides agreed on a rematch.
The rematch came at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on October 21, 2023. This time, Makhachev left no doubt. He finished Volkanovski in the first round with a devastating right hook that buckled the featherweight champion mid-stand-up exchange. Winning a close technical decision is one thing. Knocking out a pound-for-pound top-five fighter in one round is something else. That finish announced Makhachev as not just a great wrestler-dominant champion, but a legitimate threat in every phase of the fight.
The two Volkanovski performances collectively positioned him as the best fighter in the world. The pound-for-pound conversation became less of a debate and more of a consensus.
Dustin Poirier at UFC 302
Dustin Poirier was the next challenger. The Diamond had beaten McGregor, pushed Oliveira, and done everything required of a contender across a decade of elite-level fights. UFC 302 in Newark, New Jersey, on June 1, 2024, gave him his shot.
Makhachev won, but Poirier pushed him into the fifth round — the first time the champion had been tested deep into a championship fight. The finish came by submission in Round 5, a reminder that even in a war, Makhachev’s ground game eventually finds the finish. Three title defenses. Three wins by stoppage or decision. The belt stayed in Dagestan.
The Blueprint Khabib Left, and What Makhachev Built on Top of It
The Khabib comparison is inevitable, and it’s worth being precise about it. Khabib Nurmagomedov was undefeated and dominant in a way that has rarely been matched in combat sports. Makhachev has one loss and is building toward a comparable legacy — but he’s doing it differently. Where Khabib won almost exclusively through grinding wrestling attrition, Makhachev has shown genuine finishing ability across all ranges: the choke against Oliveira, the knockout against Volkanovski, the submission against Poirier.
He’s also shown a willingness to meet elite competition at the crossroads of styles. The Volkanovski fights weren’t pure wrestling matches — they were competitive MMA bouts where Makhachev’s complete skillset mattered. That completeness is what separates him from a one-dimensional grappling champion.
What’s Next: UFC 330 and the Title Defense
Makhachev’s next challenge comes at UFC 330 on August 15, against the winner of Ian Garry vs. Carlos Prates — two of the most dangerous challengers now converging on the lightweight throne. There are no easy defenses left in this division.
Ian Garry brings elite striking from a southpaw stance that causes style problems for almost everyone. Carlos Prates has finished seven straight inside the UFC with stoppages that get more violent each time. Either man is a legitimately dangerous challenger. Neither is the bet.
Islam Makhachev is the bet. The lightweight king is still on the throne, and whoever walks out of the Garry-Prates fight will need to solve a problem that three elite champions couldn’t: how do you beat the best fighter in the world?
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