Josh Thomson explains why he believes Charles Oliveira would've had a better chance of submitting Khabib Nurmagomedov than Islam Makhachev
Josh Thompson claims Charles Oliveira would've had a better chance of submitting Khabib Nurmagomedov than Islam Makhachev. According to Thomson, Makhachev's grappling game is the most well-rounded he's ever seen, claiming it's even better than Khabib's in certain aspects.
Wow @MAKHACHEVMMA is on another level #UFC267
Thomson pointed out that although Khabib dominated all his fights with his superior ground game, he did get in trouble on a few occasions. Thomson recalled when Dustin Poirier locked in a deep guillotine choke on Nurmagomedov at UFC 242.
Islam Makhachev, however, has no such chinks in his armor, claimed Thomson on the latest episode of the Weighing In podcast. His grappling game is so good that he holds the edge on the ground even when he's fighting off his back, according to Thomson.
"Charles Oliveira would've had an easier chance of submitting Khabib than he will against Islam because Khabib was very good at what he did and it showed. He was the most dominant champion I think ever in the face of the earth but he was somebody that was susceptible to the D'Arces, the guillotines. He got out of a lot of them but you go back and watch the Dustin Poirier fight, he was in a deep guillotine against Dustin. Guys like Charles Oliveira maybe don't have the strength to finish that but maybe they do. And his skinnier forearms [will put more pressure on the chokes]...whereas Islam, he understands the full realm of the submission game and he will attack it at any point any time and he defends it better than anybody I've been around from the Dagestani guys that I've trained with. He is phenomenal in jiu jitsu..." Thomson said.
Check out John McCarthy and Josh Thomson's discussion about Islam Makhachev below:
Islam Makhachev likely to fight loser of UFC 269 main event next
Islam Makhachev believes he is one win away from a title fight. In the immediate aftermath of his stunning first-round submission win over Dan Hooker at UFC 267, Makhachev said he wanted to fight for the title next.
Dana White, however, hinted that Makhachev's next fight is likely to be a number one contender's bout.
It's time! @MakhachevMMA makes his claim for championship material!
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At the UFC 267 post-fight press conference, Islam Makhachev claimed he is likely to face the loser of the upcoming lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier at UFC 269.
"[I'm going to face] The loser of the title fight. It's either Poirier or Oliveira."
Check out Islam Makhachev's interview following UFC 267 below: