DUBAI, December 9, Ivan Orekhov. Champion of the Absolute Fighting Championship (UFC) Islam Makhachev told reporters that he dreams of winning a title in another division.
Makhachev is currently the UFC champion in the lightweight division and the best fighter regardless of weight categories (P4P). In October, Makhachev defended his title for the second time, knocking out Australian Alexander Volkanovski.
“Tomorrow I’m flying to the USA. I’ll see the management, I’ll be at the tournament on December 16 (UFC 296). Honestly, I’m interested in watching the main fight (Leon Edwards – Colby Covington), teammate Tagir Ulanbekov is fighting on the undercard. If Colby wins, it will be more interesting. He expressed a desire to fight. I think if he wins, this fight becomes even more real. If they call me, I’ll go up to the cage (for a harddown with the winner), I don’t need to prepare for that. And we can have another fight there,” Makhachev said.
“The ideal end to a career is to win two belts and defend both. I have already defended one. Maybe I will have a different motivation, but for now (double champion status) is the highest level,” the fighter noted.
Makhachev also spoke about the victory of the Russian fighter of Armenian origin Arman Tsarukyan by knockout over the American Beneil Dariush. After the victory, Tsarukyan announced his readiness to have a rematch with Makhachev, to whom he lost in 2019 by unanimous decision.
“”Good knockout. Tsarukyan loudly declared himself, won against a top opponent and is approaching the title race. He already had a chance to knock out in the first round. Nothing worked out, he didn’t win a single round. Let him train more, grow up. Why not have a rematch, if he still confidently fights, the UFC management will give him such an opportunity. There is no great interest in having revenge: if you want a decent track record, you need to add new names. There is Justin Gaethje, he deserves a fight. It would be interesting with him fight. I think (I could return) in March. At a numbered tournament in Miami,” said the UFC champion.
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