A pioneer for MMA in Europe believes Islam Makhachev has an opportunity to enter the GOAT dialog if he emerges victorious at UFC 322.
Makhachev is scheduled to maneuver up in weight to problem Jack Della Maddalena for the UFC Welterweight Championship on Nov. 15. The tremendous struggle will headline UFC 322 contained in the well-known Madison Sq. Backyard area in New York Metropolis.
Whereas Makhachev has already cemented his legacy as a light-weight, he can additional etch his title within the historical past books if he can take Maddalena’s title earlier than the top of 2025. Chatting with MMAJunkie.com, Michael Bisping defined how massive a victory for Makhachev could be at UFC 322.
“It doesn’t sound correct,” Bisping stated. “Possibly I’m not giving him his credit score there. While you have a look at Anderson Silva, his second struggle within the UFC he turned the champ. He beat Chris Leben, then he beat Wealthy Franklin to turn out to be the champion. So the vast majority of these 16 wins had been title defenses. That’s a little bit totally different. While you speak about Jon Jones, there’s loads of title defenses in there, as effectively. Similar with Georges St-Pierre.
“I’m definitely not critiquing Islam Makhachev’s profession. I’m not nit-picking or discrediting it in any respect. … If he will get the job accomplished, I feel with out query he deserves to be in that dialog.”
Maddalena figures to be a stern take a look at for Makhachev. “JDM” is a pure welterweight, who defeated Makhachev’s teammate Belal Muhammad to seize the gold again in Could. Maddalena demonstrated stable takedown protection and high-level boxing, which many imagine may very well be the keys to thwarting Makhachev.
Makhachev hasn’t misplaced a professional MMA bout since a surprising knockout loss to Adriano Martins again in 2015. Since that loss, Makhachev has gone on a 15-fight successful streak. He’s already gone a full decade with out dropping one other struggle, and he’ll look to maintain that streak alive.
