I. Makhachev and D. White during a ceremonial face-off at the UFC. Photo: Reproduction/X
Back to the winning path, Kamaru Usman is not afraid to make noise in the welterweight division (up to 77,1 kg) to try to recover the belt that once belonged to him during a successful reign in the past. After defeating Joaquin buckley, the Nigerian began to be considered as one of the favorites to face the winner of Jack Della Maddalena x Islam makhachev, which does not yet have a set date.
Managed by Ali Abdelaziz, the same professional who manages the Russian's career, Usman wants to use this fact to facilitate eventual negotiations between the parties. Despite his intention, the fighter has been paying more attention to Makhachev, understanding that the athlete will be able to defeat the champion of the category next.
See too
Keeping an eye on the situation, Makhachev spoke openly about the matter, opening the doors for his colleague, but avoided saying that the Nigerian will in fact be his next opponent if he becomes welterweight champion.
“I saw an interview, Kamaru said something. He’s going to be a tough fight, but he looks good. It’s a really big fight and, I don’t know. We’ll get the belt and we’ll see after the fight at the press conference and we’ll talk about it. But I don’t want to underestimate Della Maddalena at this point. He doesn’t need to wait too long. He can fight again, beat someone, make some money and be on the waiting list,” Makhachev told MMA Junkie.
Jack Della Maddalena asked for the fight with Islam makhachev for Dana White. Photo: SUPER FIGHTS Montage
No longer the lightweight champion (up to 70,3 kg), Makhachev is preparing to seek his second belt in his UFC career. Confident in his abilities, the fighter immediately relinquished the title of his former category after Della Maddalena became the new welterweight king. The athletes quickly reached an agreement and received positive approval from Dana White.
On the other hand, Usman still needs to count on the goodwill of the leaders amid the large number of prospects that the category has. Currently third in the ranking, Shavkat Rakhmonov has already stated that he wants to fight for the belt after recovering from an injury he suffered.
You need login To comment.