“Are you fighting that bald guy again?” - Islam Makhachev shares wife’s reaction on hearing about Alexander Volkanovski rematch
Islam Makhachev revealed his mother and wife don’t know the names of his opponents.
Over the last year, Makhachev has financially set his family up for a better life by becoming the UFC lightweight champion and defending his belt twice. The Russian’s life is committed to fighting, but that doesn’t mean his family knows the details of what’s going on.
During an interview with sports.kz, a Russian media outlet, Makhachev was asked whether or not his mom and wife watch his fights. The UFC lightweight king’s response was translated from Russian to English:
“I think my mother doesn’t even know the names of my opponents. As for my wife, when they assigned me to fight Volkanovski, she called and asked, ‘Are you fighting that bald guy again?’ She only knows them on a surface level, and she might have seen some footage of their fights, Generally, the women in my household don’t pay much attention to MMA.”
Islam Makhachev made his UFC debut in May 2015. After winning his first fight, the Dagestan native hit a major road bump due to a first-round knockout loss against Adriano Martins. Since then, Makhachev has rattled off thirteen consecutive wins, including eight inside the distance.
Islam Makhachev earns number one pound-for-pound ranking in the UFC
In February of this year, Islam Makhachev defended his UFC lightweight title against fellow top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter Alexander Volkanovski. Makhachev emerged victorious by unanimous decision, but he wasn’t happy about not receiving the number one pound-for-pound ranking.
On October 21, Makhachev strengthened his argument for being the number one P4P by knocking out Volkanovski in round one of their rematch. Yet, he remained behind Jon Jones, the UFC heavyweight champion scheduled at the time to fight Stipe Miocic at UFC 295.
‘Bones’ suffered a torn pectoral while training and pulled out his fight against Miocic. Luckily for Makhachev, Jones’ injury led to the lightweight king getting the label of best fighter on the UFC roster.
Islam Makhachev was supposed to defend his UFC lightweight title in a rematch against Charles Oliveira before the latter pulled out with a severe cut, leading to Volkanovski stepping in. Therefore, Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2 is expected to be rescheduled for the first half of 2024.