The pound-for-pound number one fighter in the UFC and the world was tied with BJ Penn, Benson Henderson, and the man who cornered him on Saturday evening, Khabib Nurmagomedov, with four UFC lightweight title fight wins. It took the reigning champion just over four minutes to submit late replacement Renato Moicano via D’Arce choke to overtake those before him.
As expected, Makhachev made quick work of the Brazilian challenger, who stepped in on a day’s notice to replace the injured Arman Tsarukyan, who withdrew from his rematch with the Russian with a back injury. Speaking at the UFC post-fight press conference, Makhachev said ” “I like this belt… If somebody wants this belt, come to the cage.” He also stated that he is willing to move up in weight to challenge other champions as he did himself with long-time featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski twice.
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Pound-For-Pound Number One.
Makhachev went 1-1 in his first two UFC fights, defeating Leo Kuntz in May 2015 and then losing to Adriano Martins via knockout in October 2015. He has since gone on to rack up a 15-fight win streak that includes wins over Dan Hooker, Dustin Poirier and Charles Olivera on his way to becoming the universally recognized pound-for-pound best fighter on planet Earth.
Dana White has always claimed that Jon Jones holds that title despite the organisation ranking Makhachev in the number one spot. However, the president and CEO finally caved and admitted that he now places the lightweight champion at the top of the tree, which in all honesty should of been done a long time ago rather than being so adamant that an inactive Jones resides at number one.
“Yeah, I’ll give it to him,” White said at the UFC 311 post-fight press conference. “Are you happy? Is everybody happy now?” he added “Hundred percent, there’s no doubt about it, he’s the pound-for-pound best in the world, and he’s definitely the best to ever do it in that division.”
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Makhachevs UFC Records
First in UFC lightweight title defences.
Third in UFC lightweight history with eight submission wins.
Third in UFC lightweight history with a takedown defense of 90.9 percent.
Fourth in UFC lightweight history in top position time of 1:08:42.
Tied for fourth in UFC lightweight history with 10 finishes.
Fifth in UFC lightweight history in lowest strikes absorbed per minute at 1.53.
Tied for sixth in UFC lightweight history with 15 wins.
Eighth in UFC lightweight history with control time of 1:20:21.
Ninth in UFC lightweight history with top position percentage of 40.4 percent.
Tenth in UFC lightweight history with a takedown accuracy of 53.7 percent.
What’s Next For Islam Makhachev?
Following his win, Makhachev did not speculate who he would face next, only that he was willing to face whoever could make the 155-pound weight limit. He also stated that he is willing to increase weight to challenge other champions, as he did himself twice with long-time featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski.
The following weight class up is the 170lb welterweight limit, with Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov setting to battle for the undisputed championship this year. The Dagestani lightweight is more than capable of hanging with the best in the higher divisions and even spoke of potentially moving up to 185lbs to challenge the winner of Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland, who top the bill on Feb 11th at UFC 312 for the undisputed middleweight championship.