Khabibs protege Islam Makhachev got knocked out cold in his lone career loss - but has now peaked

Khabib Nurmagomedov retired undefeated with a perfect 29-0 record and is widely regarded as the best lightweight fighter in UFC history.

After Nurmagomedov walked away from fighting in 2020, the attention turned to his training partner and friend, Islam Makhachev, who many in MMA have suggested could be even better than ‘The Eagle’.

On Saturday night, Makhachev battered Charles Oliveira to claim the lightweight title at UFC 280 after putting together a dominant run.

The 31-year-old has won 11 consecutive fights against top contenders such as Bobby Green, Dan Hooker, Drew Dober, Arman Tsarukyan and Oliveira to get to this point.

However, despite his dominance, Makhahcev will never truly replicate Nurmagomedov’s achievements inside the Octagon as he has already tasted defeat during his career.

Back in 2015, in his second fight with the MMA leader, the Russian fighter was matched up against Adriano Martins at UFC 192 and suffered a shock loss.

Makhachev attempted to stand with the Brazilian in the first round of their fight and was made to pay when he ran into a massive right hand that sent him crashing to the floor.

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 and began to question why the bout was called off.

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After that, Makahechev became one of the best defensive fighters in the UFC and he’s been able to rack up 11 wins while taking next to no damage.

The American Kickboxing Academy star 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,’” Makhachev told TSN about his fight with Martins ahead of UFC 280.

“When 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. "

In total, Makhachev has 23 wins from his 24 professional MMA fights, and despite Oliveira being a step up, he made the fight look easy.

Many were wondering how Khabib’s student would cope with the serious step up in competition against someone who is not only handy on the feet but also has a wicked submission game.

And he proved those doubters wrong.

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