UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev has several reasons for why he wants his first title defense to be against Kamaru Usman.
First and foremost, he thinks Usman presents the biggest challenge.
In an
interview with Red Corner MMA, Makhachev explained why the former champion deserves a chance to regain his belt, even with hungry contenders Michael Morales, Ian Machado Garry, Carlos Prates, and the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov waiting in the wings.
“I said that I wanted to fight Kamaru Usman next,” Makhachev said (Russian translation via Red Corner MMA). “Although the media doesn’t believe in this fight as I can see, but in my opinion, Usman would steamroll through each of these up-and-comers like Morales, Prates… those guys haven’t been checked yet.
“I think Usman would be the hardest fight for me and in terms of media we could build it up. Like, a former champion, the most title defenses in my weight division, we could promote this fight well and make it fun to watch.”
Usman, who shares management with Makhachev, ruled over the welterweight division from 2019-2022, recording five straight successful title defenses and establishing himself as one of the best fighters of his generation. However, he fell on hard times with a three-fight losing streak that included two title fights against rival Leon Edwards, and didn’t get back into the win column until this past June when he defeated Joaquin Buckley.
At the time, Buckley was on an impressive six-fight win streak, and Makhachev believes he was poised for a title shot before Usman stifled him; based off of that, Makhachev sees Usman as worthy of another championship opportunity.
“Buckley was one of the contenders,” Makhachev said. “Usman simply took him apart and everybody has already forgotten about this guy, but if Buckley won, he would’ve been one hundred percent contender number one.”
Makhachev is currently on a 16-fight win streak, tying him for the longest win streak in UFC history with the legendary Anderson Silva. Prior to becoming welterweight champion, Makhachev held gold at lightweight, successfully defending that title a record four consecutive times before jumping up a division to take the 170-pound belt from Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322.
He expects the UFC to make its decision soon on his next fight.
“There’s a lot of options for me,” Makhachev said. “My division is really lively now, welterweight is really lively now, so there are options. We’ll see. Actually, I don’t care. The UFC will probably offer me someone soon and I told them that I didn’t care because I feel that I am going to stay in this division for a long time. Holding the belt and feeling comfortable.”
