Beneil Dariush doesn’t see Islam Makhachev coming back down to lightweight after making the move to 170.
Moments after Jack Della Maddalena was crowned the new welterweight world champion at UFC 315, Islam Makhachev made his intentions known on social media. The ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ declared that he would venture up a weight class to challenge JDM for his 170-pound crown.
As a result, Makhachev vacated the lightweight title he’s held and defended for nearly three years.
Whether he succeeds in his goal of becoming a two-division champion or not remains to be seen, but Dariush thinks that no matter the outcome, we’ve likely seen the last of Makhachev competing at 155 pounds.
“I think a guy like Volkanovski, when he was on his run, is the guy to do it because he was fighting like every three, four months,” Dariush said in an intervie with Submission Radio. “He could keep both belts and keep fighting in both divisions. I think if Islam goes to 170, it’s going to be really hard for him to come back down to 155. I think his body is going to just be a little bit bigger, and I think he struggles to get to 55.
“Putting on a couple—it doesn’t have to be a lot of weight, maybe like three, four more pounds of muscle—would make it difficult to get down to 155. So, you could say, yeah, with the work he’s put in, with his legacy, he deserves it, but I don’t think he would be able to come back down to 55 once he fights at 170.”
Dariush thinks Belal’s ground game is right up there with Islam Makhachev
Makhachev’s venture into the welterweight division ultimately came down to the outcome of UFC 315’s headliner between Belal Muhammad and Della Maddalena. Had Muhammad won, Makhachev would have likely stayed at lightweight for a long-rumored clash with former featherweight king Ilia Topuria.
Instead, he’ll try to end JDM’s reign before it really begins.
“People say Belal’s grappling isn’t like the same as Makhachev’s, but I’m not sure how true that is,” Dariush said. “I know they’re stylistically different—Makhachev has a lot more judo involved in his game with the sambo background and things like that, but Belal has great wrestling. I can’t think of somebody he’s fought and he didn’t take down. Maybe Shawn Brady, because the game plan was striking, which makes sense. But that was the only fight I can think of he didn’t get the takedown.
Belal is not really the kind of guy that does lots of shots, but he’s the guy that will dominate you, get you up against the fence, get you in the clinch, and sort of work you down. He wasn’t able to do that with JDM… JDM looked phenomenal and he had a fantastic performance.”
