UFC lightweight contender Islam Makhachev has hit back at Michael Chandler for recent comments the former Bellator champion made about his recent wins.
Makhachev will face Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 280 next month. It’s the pinnacle of a long road to the belt for Makhachev, who has won 10 straight fights.
Chandler also has a huge fight coming up against former title challenger Dustin Poirier at UFC 281. A win could give him the next lightweight title shot against the Makhachev/Oliveira winner.
The hype around Makhachev stems from recent dominant wins over the likes of Bobby Green, Dan Hooker, and Thiago Moisés. He is also the protégé of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov who retired in 2020.
Chandler acknowledges that Makhachev has a solid skillset that has resulted in his upcoming title fight, though he mentioned in a recent interview with MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin that Makhachev’s lack of strength of schedule is problematic. He said that the praise of Makhachev could also be considered ‘premature’.
A month later, Makhachev has hit back at his fellow lightweight contender.
Islam Makhachev Didn’t Take Long To Respond To Michael Chandler
Makhachev responded to Chandler’s comments in a recent tweet.
“Haha., your only two win in UFC is Hooker who came out of loss, and Tony who has 5 losses in the row now,” Makhachev said. “Please shut up and stay in line.”
Makhachev and Chandler seemed to be willing to fight one another following Chandler’s proposed vacant title fight against Makhachev earlier this year. However, Makhachev ended up getting booked against Oliveira and not Chandler, despite the latter’s wild knockout of Tony Ferguson.
Makhachev will have the chance to prove that the praise of him is warranted and bring another UFC title to Dagestan.
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