At UFC 280, Islam Makhachev put on an outstanding performance. He won the lightweight championship by using an arm triangle to defeat Charles Oliveira.
Makhachev chatted with Daniel Cormier before the bout. Cormier said: “He’s finished 10 out of 11 guys. Only guy he didn’t finish was Tony Ferguson, because Tony Ferguson didn’t tap to the Armbar – which most people would’ve tapped to.”
Islam countered that there was a second, very obvious reason why Oliveira didn’t touch Ferguson. And it has anything to do with his BJJ abilities.
“But this guy have grappling skill, that’s why. All these [other guys who Oliveira has faced] Chandler, Gaethje, Poirier… All these guy have nothing [no grappling skills]. On the ground, I don’t think [so]…”
Then, Cormier stressed Poirier’s black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Makhachev seemed unconcerned, though:
“Please, brother… So what he did when he [Ferguson] catch his arm, he go to do, what is this brother? [Granby roll]…”
“Black belt. Who give him that? We have to check that brother.”
“And we have to cancel many black belts [because] they make Jiu-Jitsu look bad. Because a lot of guys have black belt but I don’t know [if they have the skills].”
Makhachev recently posted an intriguing photo of himself and Khabib’s father when they were younger and wrote a heartfelt ode to his instructor, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
“My coach was the first to believe in me when I first came to the gym and did not even think of becoming a fighter. I wasn’t special, I wasn’t different from the rest and throughout my career he believed in me and told me that I would be a champion, that I just needed to practice.”
” And today, when I became a champion, I would really like to put this belt on my coach, in the octagon. If you were by my side, it would have been a more meaningful victory for me. May the Almighty grant you the highest rank of Paradise coach.”