Islam Makachev is set to defend his 155 crown this weekend at Dustin Poirier on UFC 302. If all goes to plan for Islam there has been speculation he may move up to 170 soon. And on top of that there is further speculation about how Islam would do at 170. One man who has shared his opinion on this is Kevin Holland a former 185er and current top 15 welterweight.
Holland’s Opinion on Makachevs Chances at 170
In an interview on UFC 302 media day Holland let his opinion be known befitting his nickname “Big Mouth”. Holland proclaimed Islam is a , “Champ, champ, for sure” and was very confident of this. He also insisted, “the way those guys grapple over there, I don’t think it would matter if you are a heavyweight. When they decided to get you down, they are going to get you down”.
So Holland has made it clear he think Islam Makachev could become double champ citing his grappling skills. He also think that size wouldn’t be an issue. While this is all speculation it does seem plausible Islam is a highly skilled fighter and honestly he’d hit quite well at 170. Islam is already a very big lightweight so with his frame and size I can see him filling out well in 170. So that combined with his skill would make him a threat for most welterweights.
Islam’s chances at 170
However welterweight right a very skilled division. I would comfortably pick Islam over most of the top 15 but there are fighters who can cause Islam big problems. Mainly Leon Edwards and Shavkat Rakhmonov are the 2 who would be Islam’s biggest threats. Edwards and Shavkat themselves are large welterweights so Islam would unlikely have a size advantage over them. Also their skillsets are also stylistically difficult for Islam.
Leon Edwards the current champion is extremely well rounded and has demonstrated an incredible ability to negate grappling to allow him to utilise his striking. And whilst Islam does have underrated striking Leon’s is certainly better. So if Leon can nulify Islams grappling like he did against Usman and Colby and keep the fight standing he would likely beat Islam. If Makachev could successfully implement his grappling his chances would increase but it’s a big if.
Shavkat Rakhmonov also poses similair difficulties. Although his striking is less refined Shavkat has show efficiency on the feet. But the main area Shavkat can give Islam problems is the grappling. Shavkat’s grappling is his strong suit so has the capacity to have Islam beat in terms of grappling. And we haven’t seen Islam really deal with people who can match him with grappling and size. So Shavkat can also cause Islam big issues.
Islam’s work at 155
However, this is all hypotheticals and we won’t actually know until we see Islam at 170 which may not be that soon. Islam assuming he beats Poirier still has work to do at 155 mainly against an old foe Arman Tsarukyan. Arman is the current number 1 and was initially offered to fight Islam on 302 but declined due to it being too quick a turnaround. Arman previously fought Islam and although lost gave a good account of himself and has since improved. There’s also Mateusz Gamrot as another potential title challenger
So Islam still has work to do before he can go to 170 with no questions about him being the best. He has this fight against Dustin then presumably a fight against Arman and potentially a fight against Gamrot. After a few more defences a move to 170 makes sense but for now Islam Makachev has work at 155 to do.
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