Coach Targets UFC Star for Islam Makhachev

There a lot of fun fights available for UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev, but none hold a candle to his coach’s ultimate dream fight.

American Kickboxing Academy’s Javier Mendez, Khabib Nurmagomedov and the rest of their team coached Makhachev to a stellar fifth-round submission victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302, locking in his third title defense at the weight class. Getting to the fight in Newark, New Jersey last weekend was a battle in itself as Makhachev battled through a now-confirmed staph infection in training camp.

UFC News: Islam Makhachev Confirms Medical Rumors for UFC 302 Title Fight

Coach Mendez says Makhachev told him the first half of camp was very bad because of the staph infection but they ultimately pulled through as the fight drew closer, especially with Nurmagomedov’s arrival. While the circumstances could have been better, the infection didn’t hinder Makhachev’s title fight performance as Mendez explains:

“The staph infection did not affect him whatsoever,” Mendez told Red Corner MMA. “He was not on antibiotics that week of the fight so we cannot use that as anything. He was perfectly fine.”

Fans were quick to point out Makhachev’s staph infection earlier during fight week with UFC superstar Conor McGregor leading the charge against team Makhachev and his loyalty to “Notorious” rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, taking shots at them in now-deleted tweets (check them out below).

“It’s kind of funny how little simple things people notice,” Mendez said of Makhachev’s staph infection. “Like Conor goes and starts on a rant, starting to create drama with Islam, which is kind of good because Conor’s the kind of guy you want to root against or root for, regardless.”

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There was no shortage of drama between McGregor and Nurmagomedov in 2018, which saw “The Eagle” tap out McGregor and then soar out of the cage to fight the Irishman’s infamous teammate Dillon Danis at UFC 229. Years after the result, McGregor’s rivalry with the Dagestanis has all but died out aside from the latest staph shot, which creates a potential storyline for a title fight with Makhachev in the future.

“Everybody wants to see him— I want to see him get beat by Islam. So for me, him doing what he’s doing is causing a lot of attention. So, there wouldn’t be nothing better for me and Khabib than to have Islam have a fight with him somewhere down the line. He brought that staph up, which was very observant on his part to be honest with you. Very observant on his part. The only thing is that like he observed it way too late. At the time he mentioned that, it was already three weeks past.”

Conor McGregor has to work his way back up to a UFC title fight (likely with a win or two) after coming up short against Dustin Poirier on two occasions in 2021. The fighting Irishman is currently scheduled to face top contender Michael Chandler at welterweight, though there is doubt circling the UFC 303 main event as their press conference was cancelled on Monday with no concrete reason being given as to why.

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Whatever the case may be, as long as Islam Makhachev holds the UFC title and Conor McGregor is active, there’s always potential for the two lightweights to throw down for some major box-office numbers.

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