UFC commentator and former two-division champion, Daniel Cormier, had nothing but praise for his AKA teammate Islam Makhachev. Makhachev claimed the UFC lightweight title at UFC 280 this past weekend, after spending years projected to be the next big thing in the division. On DC & RC, Cormier elaborated on why he was so impressed with Makhachev’s performance in Abu Dhabi, and what it took for him to get there.
“He did it to a Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira who was in shape, who was prepared, but he knew exactly what he needed to do and I thought that was shown very early in the fight.
DC Praises “One of the Most Dominant Performances Ever”
I’ve been in this kid’s arm triangle. It’s so tight. The moment he was able to clear guard, Charles Oliveira tapped, and I’m telling you, it was one of the most dominant performances that we’ve ever seen from a challenger.”
Charles Oliveira, a former lightweight champion himself, entered the Octagon at UFC 280 on an eleven-fight winning streak. Oliveira still boasts the UFC record for most finishes and most submissions. Oliveira’s submission threat is never truly nullified in any of his fights, but Islam Makhachev managed to make the ground game work for him.
Cormier continued, stating that Makhachev has “always been the best guy in the room”. “I’ll say this without a shadow of a doubt about Islam. He’s always been the best guy in the room. We all thought if he could make the same type of skill and show the way that he shows in the practice room in the octagon, he would be the best in the world.
Now, I’m not saying he’s better than Khabib [Nurmagomedov], I’m just saying he was just always so good. But he was never able to just take it and do it in the octagon as well as he did it inside of the gym.
The one thing that was surprising to me was that when I talk to these guys, and I’m talking Charles, Islam, Aljo, T.J. Dillashaw, Sean O’Malley, and Petr Yan, I had never seen six guys that were so sure they were gonna win.
Charles Oliveira thought he was gonna knock that guy out in the first round. Islam Makhachev right away said, ‘I’m gonna submit Charles Oliveira.’ Even I when talking to him I was like, ‘Islam, you cannot believe you’re just gonna walk through this dude.’”
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