Islam Makhachev's trainer says fighter not interested in Ilia Topuria and may retire soon

Javier Mendez, coach of Islam Makhachev . Photo: Instagram / Javier Mendez

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Current UFC lightweight champion (up to 70,3 kg) and leader of the world pound-for-pound ranking, Islam Makhachev may be close to leaving the sport. At least that's the opinion of Javier Mendez, the Russian's main coach at the American Kickboxing Academy, the fighter's base in the USA. Given this scenario, he also assures that a fight with Ilia Topuria is not a priority.

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“He’ll probably do what Khabib (Nurmagomedov) did and retire at 35. Well, Khabib did it a lot earlier, but I think 35 is the magic number for these guys. They have it in their heads, that 35 is the cutoff point. Some will pass, but I think Islam is already prepared financially, he’s done very well with his money, so I think the lights will probably go out after 35,” Mendez said in an interview with the US YouTube channel Submission Radio this Sunday (15).

Despite the statement, the coach also made it clear that a weight increase is part of the Russian's future plans, who is already 33 years old. However, the welterweight champion makes all the difference in the decision to turn this desire into reality, since a duel with Belal Muhammad is out of the question.

“They will never fight. That’s just brotherhood. They won’t break that. And I don’t blame them. They’re not fighting over anything. They have loyalty to each other and Belal is a brother. They won’t fight among themselves,” he assured.

Ilia Topuria

Another name mentioned during the chat was Ilia Topuria . The current UFC featherweight champion (up to 65,7 kg) spoke openly about his desire to pursue a second belt, an idea rejected by Makhachev. When questioned about the matter, Mendez seemed to share the same opinion.

“The guy is a great fighter. He has the best boxing in the business, I think. He can do a lot of damage if he makes weight, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m not interested in that fight at all right now. I’m interested in defending the title against Arman, and then, who knows, maybe the welterweight title will be available at that specific time,” he concluded.

Islam Makhachev 's next title defense will be a rematch against Armenian Arman Tsarukyan , in the main event of UFC 311. If he wins, he will become the champion with the most title defenses in the organization's history.

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