Following Islam Makhachev’s arm-triangle submission victory against Charles Oliveira last weekend in Abu Dhabi, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan has sang Makhachev’s praises.
Under the guidance of Javier Mendez and former undisputed lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev won in a convincing manner.
Islam Makhachev dropped Oliveira in the second round by blocking a kick attempt from the Brazilian with a left straight and finishing with a powerful right hook.
Islam Makhachev quickly jumped into Oliveira’s half guard, went for an arm-triangle, jumped to side control, and eventually forced a submission victory. After winning the belt, Makahchev is now anticipated to try to defend his title against Alexander Volkanovski, the current featherweight champion. The match will be in Perth, Australia in February of next year.
Longtime UFC color commentator Rogan praised the Dagestani after:
“Watching Islam (Makhachev) and Charles Oliveira, that was – what a fight that was. Islam Makhachev must have the most incredible squeeze, his squeeze must be out of this world. Because, you see how quick Charles tapped once he clamped that on him. I mean, whoof.”
Speaking about Makhchev, Rogan said,
“That dude is on another level. I mean, I am – he is the truth. I was always impressed with him, but I mean, I was saying, leading up to him getting a shot at the world title, he’s the boogeyman of that division (lightweight).”
“He’s the guy that everyone was saying, he’s the most dominant of all the contenders. And then when he tapped (Drew) Dober, that was a big one, when he tapped Dan Hooker, that was a big one too.”
“It’s like the way he’s tapping these guys, who are these world class fighters, he’s just f*cking running through them. But the fact that he got on Oliveira and mounted him, and then submitted him with an arm-triangle, head and arm choke like that.”
Rogan continued, “He submitted the guy with the most submissions in the history of the sport [the UFC]. And the way he did it, he’s so f*cking methodical and dominant – and Oliveira tested him, I mean he got out of bad positions in the first round, got back up to his feet, hit him with some good shots. But Makhachev, he’s the f*cking truth.”
Rogan previously advocated for Makhachev to get a title shot. Dana White explained a while back that Rogan had asked him to make Oliveira Makhachev happen. While it might seem like an obvious move, Makhachev skipped over a lot of people including Beniel Dariush who is likely to have to wait for his title shot a while longer.