Islam Makhachev is the Lightweight Champion of the UFC. Makhachev defeated Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi to claim the belt. In his corner as always was his cousin and in the eyes of many the greatest Lightweight fighter in the history of the sport, Khabib Nurmagomedov. Islam even put the belt on Khabib momentarily before Khabib placed it back on Islam's shoulder. Khabib does not want Islam to be in his shadow, Khabib truly hopes his cousin surpasses him which is unbelievably admirable. Khabib has been quoted as saying Islam just has to defend the belt five or six times and that should do it. However, think about how many times I just said Khabib when this article is supposed to be about Islam. That is the problem. Let's say Islam does defend the belt six times. Let's run through the top six lightweights in the rankings. Oliveira, Porier, Gaethje, Dariush, Chandler, Fiziev. He already beat Oliveira, so I'll just include Alexander Volkanovski since that is who he's scheduled to fight at UFC 284. Beating Volk is also more impressive than more than half the guys listed due to the fact Volk is undefeated in the UFC and has dominated the Featherweight division. However, we're gonna go through the hypothetical of Islam successfully defending the belt six times. Does that put Islam over Khabib as the GOAT in the eyes of the fans?
So, we begin with Makhachev vs Volkanovski. This win would be massive, defeating the unbeaten Featherweight champ would be a great start. Yet, the critique for the haters would be "Well Volk is a Featherweight, fight a real Lightweight." Okay, so we'll go according to the rankings, Porier and Gaethje. Personally, I think these would be quick victories, but Khabib also beat both of these fighters, so the fans still may not be impressed. Now we get to Beneil Dariush, who was originally scheduled to fight Islam before injuring his leg last year. Dariush is on a tear right now on an eight-fight win streak. Realistically Dariush should be next. If Islam defeats Beneil, for me that could do it being I believe Beneil is the only hope left in the division to dethrone Makhachev. I still don't think it would be enough for the fans on his fourth title defense. Even if he defended it twice more against Chandler and Fiziev I think that one loss on his resume will be the final factor for the majority of fans that watch. So what then? Is Islam destined to remain in the shadow of Khabib?
The answer to this question is simply no. I don't even think Islam has to defend the belt five or six times. As long as he defends it against Volk, Dariush, and any two more top-five opponents and then goes up to fight the Welterweight Champion in another super fight and win the Welterweight belt that would put Islam over Khabib in the eyes of every fan. Islam has a long way to go, but based on what we have seen so far, I don't see him losing any time soon unless Beneil Dariush shocks the world. If Islam can beat Volk and get over the mountain of Dariush that stands in the way, I can confidently say no Lightweight will beat him. When this most likely happens Islam Makhachev needs to go up and take on whoever the Welterweight champion is at the time. Whether it's still Leon Edwards or someone else, Islam beating the champion at 170 is the answer to how he breaks through the shadow of Khabib.
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