Islam Makhachev has been close to perfect during his MMA career.
The lightweight champion is a heavy favourite heading into his latest fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday night.
Arman Tsarukyan, Dan Hooker, Charles Oliveira, and Alexander Volkanovski are just some of the high-profile fighters on Makhachev’s glittering 26-fight record.
However, he is not unbeaten like his 29-0 mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Back in 2015, in his second fight with Dana White’s promotion, Makhachev suffered a shocking loss against Adriano Martins at UFC 192.
The 32-year-old tried to strike with the Brazilian in the first round and was made to pay when he ran into a massive right hand that sent him crashing to the floor.
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Martins followed up with one ground strike that put him out cold before the referee waved off the fight and the young prospect quickly regained consciousness.
Makhachev immediately questioned the stoppage, but resurfaced footage shows his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he crashed to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
After that, he became one of the best defensive fighters in the UFC and racked up 13 wins while taking next to no damage.
Makhachev says his lone career loss taught him a lot about how to pace a fight and made him realise he is not invincible.
“That moment, I [was] just thinking, ‘Nobody can stop me,’” he told TSN about his fight with Martins ahead of his 155lb title win in October 2022.
“When the fight is beginning, I try to push my opponents, try to go always forward, land some hard punch. But this is MMA, small gloves, you know? I learned a lot after this fight.”
“After this fight, I just start slowly my fights. Like, try to feel the distance and all these things.
“Before, when they start, I just go forward, try to take them down, don’t think about the plan, but now I take it slow.”
Poirier is arguably the biggest KO threat Makhachev has ever fought.
‘The Diamond’ has stopped 15 of the 30 people he’s beaten, including Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez, by using his impressive boxing skills.
Poirier predicts he’ll add another KO to his CV this weekend.
He told Yahoo Sports: “I’m going to knock him unconscious, and the ref is going to be pulling me off of him.”
Makhachev has other plans for his title defence at the Prudential Center.
The champion predicted: “We will start, and I will try to take him down.
“He will try to get me in a guillotine. I will defend the guillotine. I will give him a couple of punches. He will give his back, then I will finish.”
News Summary:
- Footage of Islam Makhachev getting knocked out in lone UFC defeat resurfaces ahead of Dustin Poirier clash
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