Khabib Nurmagomedov’s long time buddy and UFC fighter Islam Makhachev is all set to make his maiden lightweight title defense against Charles Oliveira at UFC 294, which will be the annual promotion card in Abu Dhabi next month. The rematch would come almost exactly a year after Makhachev effectively defeated Oliveira via second-round submission at UFC 280.
Khabib’s big prediction for this match
Recently, Khabib made a surprising prediction for the rematch between Islam and Charles. Although the former fighter was extremely confident of his talented fighter’s dominance ahead of the fight, he expects the rematch to play out a little differently. “The Eagle” believes that normally this would be a tough fight for both fighters, but for Makhachev it will be even tougher than the first because Oliveira has nothing left to lose.
The Eagle believes the match to be difficult
Recently, in an interview, the former UFC lightweight king said, “Will the rematch be more difficult than the first fight? Yes, it will be. There will be more risk for Islam because Oliveira has nothing to lose; he’s already lost. If he had any worries in the first fight, he doesn’t now. I don’t think this fight will be easy for both. The second battle will definitely be more difficult for Islam than the first. This is completely my personal opinion”.
“Do Bronx” was on an 11-fight win streak, including two title fights, with his last loss coming in 2017 when he fought against Islam Makhachev at UFC 280. While Islam was on a 10-fight win streak, many didn’t believe Khabib when he predicted that Makhachev would walk through Charles.
Previous prediction of Khabib
Khabib prefaced the fight, almost did the trash talking for his prodigy’s share, and told UFC Russia: “When you are 27, you are at your physical peak, but mentally you are not there yet. Because you are 27 now, not 31. And Islam is at its peak. Overall, I think Islam is better, and there are some potential threats that we are dealing with with which Islam needs to be careful”.
Khabib is one of the best minds ever to compete in the sport, and his last prediction turned out to be correct, so it won’t be surprising if his prediction for UFC 294 is also accurate.
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