Diesel AK Blog
Fighter Profile: Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev: UFC welterweight champion and two-division titleholder — record and style.
Background
Dagestani fighter, a combat sambo world champion and long-time protégé of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, training at American Kickboxing Academy. He is the reigning UFC welterweight champion and a former lightweight champion, with a professional record of 28-1.
Career timeline
- Won the UFC lightweight title in October 2022 and defended it four times, including twice over Alexander Volkanovski and once each over Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier.
- Submitted Renato Moicano in the first round at UFC 311 in January 2025 in his final lightweight defence, then vacated the belt.
- Won the UFC welterweight title at UFC 322 in Madison Square Garden on 15 November 2025, beating Jack Della Maddalena by unanimous decision with all three judges scoring it 50-45 — becoming the 11th fighter to hold UFC titles in two divisions.
- That win extended his UFC winning streak to 16, tying Anderson Silva’s promotional record.
- Defends the welterweight title against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in Philadelphia on 15 August 2026.
Fight craft
Makhachev’s grappling is the most complete in the sport: entries disguised by a genuine striking threat, immediate transitions to the back or to a dominant top position, and control time that strangles opponents’ offence long before any submission appears. The move up to welterweight did not change the method, only the margins — he neutralised a bigger, heavier-handed champion by taking away the exchanges rather than winning them. The one route through him remains what it has always been: distance, takedown defence and forcing him to strike for long stretches.
In the modern MMA landscape
Our wider MMA analysis treats Makhachev’s welterweight win as the defining achievement of the cycle, and the core facts there check out. One correction: it describes his next opponent, Ian Machado Garry, as undefeated. Garry is 17-1 — he lost to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 in December 2024.
Return to What the Modern MMA Game Demands.
Sources
Record and competitive status checked 1 August 2026.
