Islam Makhachev reveals reason for pulling out of UFC Vegas 14

A staph infection forced Islam Makhachev out of his fight against Rafael dos Anjos

Islam Makhachev revealed his reason for pulling out of his scheduled bout at UFC Vegas 14 this weekend at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Makhachev (18-1) was scheduled to face former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, but shared that a staph infection ultimately forced him to withdraw from what would have been the biggest test of his career so far.

The Russian lightweight took to Instagram to break the news:

View this post on Instagram

Успокаивает только одно, что от предписанного нам никуда не деться ☝️ ⠀ Много сил и времени потрачено были к этому бою, находился на пике формы но как только начал сбрасывать вес и иммунитет начал слабеть я подхватил инфекцию которая выведет меня из строя минимум на месяц в этом лагере наша команда уже не раз сталкивалась с этой инфекцией и многим пришлось отменить свои бои. Этот год был тяжелым для моей карьеры очень много боев отменилось но обещаю вам я буду идти до конца к этому поясу чего бы мне это не стоило Inshaalah

A post shared by Islam_Makhachev (@islam_makhachev) on Nov 8, 2020 at 6:36pm PST

Translated into English, part of Makhachev post read:

“A lot of time and effort was spent in this fight, I was at my peak, but as soon as I started to lose weight and immunity began to weaken, I caught an infection that would incapacitate me for at least a month in this camp, our team had already faced this infection more than once and many had to cancel fights.”

A staph infection is also what forced Makhachev teammate Umar Nurmagomedov - cousin of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov - to pull out of his scheduled UFC debut at UFC 254 back in October.

This is already the second time that the bout between Makhachev and dos Anjos has been shelved this year. Originally scheduled for UFC 254 as well, the bout was scratched after dos Anjos tested positive for COVID-19.

Now, it is unclear whether the UFC will once again re-schedule the bout or if they decided to come up with a last-minute opponent for dos Anjos.

The Brazilian veteran meanwhile, is trying to do some matchmaking of his own, calling new UFC lightweight Michael Chandler out.

I wish @MAKHACHEVMMA a speed recovery. Looking for a new partner to dance. Looks like @MikeChandlerMMA is ready to go. Your move!
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) November 9, 2020

Islam Makhachev's stellar UFC run put on hold

With the staph infection, Islam Makhachev will have to wait a bit longer to be able to continue his impressive run in the UFC.

Makhachev is currently one of the hottest lightweights in the UFC today. The Dagestan-native is 7-1 in his UFC career and is currently on a six-fight winning streak.

In that stretch, he has beaten the likes of Chris Wade, Nik Lentz, Gleison Tibau, Kajan Johnson, Arman Tsarukyan, and Davi Ramos.

Currently, Makhachev is the number 12-ranked contender at 155-pounds.