Islam Makhachev continues to captivate MMA enthusiasts worldwide. He is one of the UFC’s most well-known icons, and fans seem to be excited as they learned of a possible timing for Islam Makhachev’s return to the cage.
Makhachev is currently planning a mid-2024 comeback to the ring after a first-round knockout victory against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in October of last year.
In a recent interview with the MMA Squad, the lightweight icon shared insights into his preparation. He stated: “June [or] July, I will have my next fight. I do just one training every day [currently], nothing hard, but I [am] still training every day because I’m the champion.”
The announcement of the 32-year-old’s return has ignited tremendous excitement. This has been accompanied by a flurry of responses discussing Makhachev’s physique after the camp. Social media platforms buzzed with comments, with fans expressing a mix of admiration and critique.
Some of the comments are as follows:
“Bro looks like a literal meatball with a beard.”
“Islam been eating!”
“Close to two years and still zero title defenses against a lightweight.”
“So he will want a quick turnaround for the winner of Charles [Oliveira] vs. Arman [Tsarukyan] at UFC 300.”
“Defend the belt, bro.”
“Eating too many boooorgerss.”
Chael Sonnen thinks Islam Makhachev may retire soon if the UFC doesn’t provide enough incentives. The 46-year-old claims that the Dagestani will give up the sport as soon as 2025, if not sooner in order to gain weight up to 170 pounds.
During a recent segment on his YouTube channel, the former mixed martial artist said that had the company given Khabib Nurmagomedov a different opponent instead of a rematch at lightweight, they could have been able to convince Khabib to participate in a last match.
Sonnen warned the MMA promotion not to repeat past mistakes. He said: “If he keeps his [contractually remaining] three fights within 2024, you are not going to see him in 2025, that I do know, and one of the reasons that you are getting the resistance and reluctance is that you are giving him matches he doesn’t want have. He doesn’t want to have matches at 155 pounds… If you want to keep him and elongate his career, you are going to have to start looking at catch weight or 170 [pounds].”
It seems like the anticipation surrounding Islam Makhachev’s return builds as fans eagerly await his next spectacular performance in the octagon.