On October 22, the UFC 280 tournament will take place in the UAE, in the main battle of which the Russian Islam Makhachev will meet with the Brazilian Charles Oliveira as part of the lightweight title confrontation. Despite the fact that Oliveira won the most submission victories in UFC history (16), many consider the Dagestan fighter to be the favorite of the fight. And for good reason!

Last year, Makhachev showed that it was almost impossible to get out of his grip. Brazilian Thiago Moises was forced to knock on the floor after he “gave” his neck to a Russian fighter.

“I didn’t think he would do that”

In July 2021, Thiago Moises, whose base is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, became Islam Makhachev’s rival. Few people believed in the South American fighter – at that time he was only on the 14th line in the top lightweight and had no big victories in his career. However, the battle for Makhachev did not become a very easy walk.

Islam decided to spend almost the entire first round in a standing position, working with short shock series. Moises was the first to go into the fight, but the Russian defended himself from an attempt to transfer. And at the end of the first five-minute period, the Dagestani held a takedown and controlled the opponent below until the gong, not forgetting to strike.

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In the second round, Islam continued to work in the standing position and, having driven the Brazilian to the net, tried to lift him to transfer him down, but could not. It was Moises who caught the moment: turning Makhachev with his back to the net, he grabbed his legs, lifted him up and dumped him on the floor. After the fight, Islam admitted that he did not expect this from Thiago:

– A little upset that Moises managed to carry out a takedown. Didn’t think he’d go for it. But I gave him my legs. I tried to defend myself, but he caught me. But nothing. I immediately tried to strangle him, but he got out, he is good at jiu-jitsu, ”Makhachev said at a press conference after the fight.

After such a bold move by the opponent, Islam did not relax anymore, taking most of the episodes in the fight and scoring streaks in the strike. The end for the Brazilian came in the middle of the fourth round – after he put Makhachev behind his back. The Russian squeezed his arms and tightly grabbed Moises’s neck – for the first time in his career jitser Thiago knocked and lost by submission. Islam once again proved that on the floor it is not only not inferior, but even superior to black belts in jiu-jitsu.

Khabib was happy

Makhachev was seconded in this fight by his friend, and at that time already mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, who had retired a year earlier. The tips of the former UFC champion were very helpful for Islam.

“It should be noted the work of Islam, who followed all the instructions both inside the cage and outside during preparation,” Khabib wrote after the fight on social networks.

Photo: © Brandon Magnus / Contributor / UFC / Gettyimages.com

The winning reception was already the 10th in Makhachev’s career. By the way, in 2021, Islam completed all three of his fights with the surrender of his opponent – in addition to Moises, the Russian strangled the American Drew Dober with the help of “won flu”, and on the New Zealander Dan Hooker, he used a successful painful submission called “kimura”. The future opponent of Islam, Charles Oliveira, of course, needs the most competent plan for a fight with the Russian.

There are no gaps in Makhachev’s skills both in wrestling and in the stance. The only advantage of the Brazilian is experience – there were no truly top rivals in Islam’s career, while Oliveira has dealt with almost all lightweight monsters over the past two years. The upcoming fight will show whether the Dagestani fighter is ready for really big fights and important victories.