In just a few days, Islam Makhachev is going to fight Charles Oliveira for the lightweight championship in the main event at UFC 280. It is one of the most anticipated fights of the year and it has the potential of becoming one of the best fights of 2022 as well.
Charles Oliveira has that kind of power and the skillset: Islam Makhachev’s trainer
It is without a doubt, that both contenders have the tools to emerge victorious. But only on Saturday, the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will reveal who has the ability to edge the other out for the 155-pound throne
However, through a recent statement, Makhachev’s trainer by Javier Mendez has acknowledged that even though the Russian has the skills to dictate the bout, Oliveira could knock out his pupil.
“Islam is so well-rounded that, listen, if we wanna stand, we’ll stand,” Mendez said on UFC Unfiltered, “If we wanna go to the ground, we’ll go to the ground. But I can tell you this, Islam is gonna dictate where that fight’s going… It’s hard to say right now where we’re gonna be comfortable but I can tell you, we’re gonna control where it goes.”
“Unless something happens, it always does. I mean it’s happened before. If he gets knocked out. Which could happen, I’m not saying it can’t. So obviously. And Charles has that kind of power and the skillset to be able to do that,” he added.
The first and only time Makhachev lost in his professional career was by technical knockout. It took place at UFC 192 on 3rd October 3 2015, when Adriano Martins landed multiple hits on Makhachev, who could not recover from the beatdown.
‘Do Bronx’, who lost the 155-pound title on the scale before his UFC 274 clash against Justin Gaethje, is the underdog ahead of UFC 280. Despite that, he is on monumental confidence ahead of the Makhachev fight, declaring himself the most complex champion in MMA. The Brazilian stated that he does not care about the opinion of the press and said back in July that the fight will be like another title defense in his career.
“The belt is already mine. To me, this is another title defense,” said Oliveira to Sports Illustrated via a translator at that time, “I made weight, I’m sure I made weight. I feel like I was robbed. It was really hard – I heard my dad crying, my daughter was questioning why I lost the belt. It was very upsetting. It went against all the dedication I put into this. But the most important part was that I showed my championship mentality. Even after all that happened, I pulled through and still put on a show for everyone.”
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