Islam Makhachev managed to set a new UFC lightweight championship defense record after he defeated Renato Moicano at UFC 311. Heading into the octagon he was level with BJ Penn, Benson Henderson, and Khabib Nurmagomedov with three title defenses with the 155-pound belt. Nevertheless, the D’Arce choke he locked in at 4:05 of the first round took his tally to four wins with the gold.
Islam Makhachev managed to make history on Saturday night and etch his name into the pantheon of greats champions. However, history is not going to look back kindly on the Dagestani’s run with the 155-pound title. The title has had major flaws to be deemed as an all-time great reign.
There are a lot of parallels to be drawn between Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s own run with the same title, which is in and of itself incredible. Nevertheless, it isn’t the first time that we’ve seen some of these bizarre mirror-like patterns between fighters. Do you really understand what I mean by that, it is worth going back over the four fights he has had with the title on the line so far.
Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284
Alexander Volkanovski was the first challenger to Islam’s title after Makhachev won the-then vacant title back at UFC 280 by defeating Charles Oliveira. Volkanovski came into this fight as the reigning featherweight champion, and it would be an incredible main event that earned the Fight of the Night honors as well as the Fight of the Year honors from the company.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 (Image via Yahoo Sports/BJ Penn)There is absolutely no doubt that this was a major box office fight, but when you look at it on paper (which is what people will be doing when they look back in history), Volk had to make a fairly significant shift to try and become a Champ-Champ in two weight classes. It was a gamble for the 145-pound fighter. While it didn’t pay off, many including Joe Rogan thought Volk won decisively.
Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294
Fast forward to October of 2023 and Volkanovski found himself in another title match with Makhachev. This fight, however, would end in a drastically different fashion, with the champ managing to get the KO in just 3:06 of the very first round. There is, however, a major caveat to that win, as Volkanovski was only made aware that he was getting a rematch for the title 11 days before the fight took place.
Alexander Volkanovski gets destroyed by Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 (Image via MARCA)Charles Oliveira was originally meant to challenge Makhachev at UFC 294, but he suffered a bad cut above his right eye in training, which meant that he was not medically cleared to compete at the event. Granted, getting an early KO against a genuine pound-for-pound legend in Volk is impressive, but he didn’t get anywhere near a full fight camp and was brought in last minute.
Dustin Poirier at UFC 302
The champion’s fight against Dustin Poirier was the first time in his title reign that he would go up against a “natural” 155-pound fighter. As such, it was the first true test of whether he could withstand someone at the top end of the division where the size advantage wouldn’t be in his favor. Both fighters had a full fight camp. As such, this is arguably the most ‘standard’ win from Makhachev so far.
Dustin Poirier lost to the current lightweight champion at UFC 302 (Image via Eurosport)The fight would earn the Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night honors for the gritty war. It was another impressive display from Makhachev, but Poirier had lost two of his last five fights at that point, namely to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. Hence, this did feel a little like the company were going by name value rather than top-tier challenger (no offense of course to Poirier so is an elite level fighter).
Renato Moicano at UFC 311
We now reach UFC 311 where Islam Makhachev got the win against Renato Moicano. Just like the second fight against Volk, Moicano was a last minute replacement for this fight. Originally, Makhachev was on the fight card to face Arman Tsarukyan in a rematch. However, a back injury forced the Armenian fighter to withdraw from the bout.
Islam Makhachev defeats Renato Moicano at UFC 311 (via Instagram/X)It could’ve been an absolute epic main event between the 155-pound king and a fighter that he previously beat in 2019. However, Tsarukyan walking into the octagon on Saturday night would’ve been a competitor that had bested Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush on route to getting the title shot. As such, a win over Tsarukyan would have held more merit than defeating Moicano.
Why this record-breaking streak doesn’t look great on paper
Managing to win four fights in MMA is an incredible feat, but managing to do it whilst also being the lightweight champion takes it into a whole new stratosphere. Makhachev has proven time and again that he is the greatest 155-pound fighter on the planet right now. Moreover, his record-breaking win takes him to 4 title defenses in the UFC lightweight division.
UFC 311’s Renato Moicano marks another ex-featherweight challenge for Islam Makhachev (Source: IMAGO/X)But what I’m looking at here is how the record will be looked at in years to come, and how it will factor into the GOAT conversation that will of course follow Makhachev now until his retirement:
- Beats a Featherweight
- Beats the same Featherweight who had 11 days to prepare
- Beats a last minute replacement, who had one day to prepare
When you look at it like that, it is tough to put the current lightweight champion in the running for GOAT. But, as fans that watched the fights and events unfolding, we know how good Makhachev is, but the history books will tell a vastly different (and pretty unfair) story.
That is unless the Dagestani fighter is able to rack up some even more impressive wins to his stellar career. This is considering that he is only 33 years old and still fighting at such a high level, with plenty more to compete for.
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