American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez has seen plenty of elite fighters come and go, but he believes that the current lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, is the most well-rounded lightweight he’s ever trained. With pound-for-pound supremacy as well as the lightweight title on the line when Makhachev faces Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 next month, Makhachev spoke to Helen Yee about his star fighter.
First, he was asked if Volkanovski will be Makhachev’s toughest opponent. “I don’t know. I’m not sure he is the toughest. Based at what’s on stake, I would say yes based on that. Is he really? I don’t know. We’ll have to find out fight night. If he can prevent Islam from taking him down.
Coach: Makhachev “Most Well-Rounded Lightweight of All Time”
Also, keep in mind, a lot of people are now catching on, Islam can stand with Charles [Oliveira]. They were talking about, ‘Well, Islam has to take him down.’ And Charles was thinking, ‘Oh, he has to take me down.’ Well, what got him to the ground? It wasn’t Islam’s takedowns.
It was Islam’s punching that took him down. So, the secret’s out and it should have been out a long time ago. Islam can do it all. If he can’t take you down, guess what, you gotta deal with his stand-up, too. I’ve said it many times, that he’s the most well-rounded lightweight of all time in champions. He’s the best rounded of all of ‘em. I expect him on Feb. 11 to become pound-for-pound No. 1.”
Mendez fully expects Makhachev to follow in his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov’s footsteps with a record-breaking run. Unlike Khabib, Makhachev might move up a weight class to claim another belt, which Khabib was never interested in.
“I 100 percent see that if Islam wants, yes. If that’s what he wants to do, yes. Unlike Khabib, Khabib didn’t want to do that. Khabib’s goal was never to be welterweight or middleweight. If Khabib wanted that, he would have been that, but Islam, I have heard him, he has mentioned it to me that he wants to go to welterweight at some point, but he wants to clear out the division. He wants to defend the title more than anybody has.
I think once that goes accomplished, I think he’ll think maybe I’ll go to welterweight. I think we’re a little bit far away from that because this is gonna be the first title defense. I think maybe four or five more title defenses and maybe the topic of him going up to 170 is very entertaining.”
Is Javier Mendez right about Makhachev? Let us know in the comments.
