UFC 322 will take place on November 15 in New York, the main event of which will be the fight between Islam Makhachev and Jack Della Maddalena. The Russian, for whom this will be the sixth title winner in the organization, will compete in the somewhat forgotten status of a contender. The previous time our fighter claimed the belt in a confrontation with Charles Oliveira and simply destroyed his opponent.

But many experts then doubted Makhachev.

Unexpected favorite

On October 22, 2022, the UFC 280 tournament took place in Abu Dhabi, where Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira fought for the vacant UFC lightweight champion belt. The Brazilian previously held the title and had never lost to anyone, but lost his champion status after failing the weight cut ahead of the confrontation with Justin Gaethje.

Makhachev was on a 10-win streak in the UFC and had long been mentally prepared for a championship confrontation. But Oliveira and his team believed Islam needed one more fight before facing the Brazilian. Even Dana White, who had previously promised Khabib Nurmagomedov a title shot for his comrade, somehow abruptly changed his mind, believing that the Russian should first fight Beneil Dariush.

But in the end, Makhachev got a championship chance, and not in Brazil, as Oliveira wanted, but in the UAE. It is curious that the bookmakers considered the Russian as the favorite, offering odds of 1.55 for his victory, while they could bet on Oliveira with odds of 2.55. People from the MMA world from Michael Bisping to Valentina Shevchenko were amazed at this, because the Russian had almost never fought with top opponents before.

Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira / Photo: © Chris Unger / Contributor / UFC / Gettyimages.ru

Makhachev’s superiority

Islam, however, did not care much about outside opinions. He was confident that he would demolish the Brazilian, and most importantly, he knew how he would act in the cage.

“We need to make him feel uncomfortable.” All of his defeats in the UFC were when he went into deep waters, when his heart rate was already over 200. And his current winning streak – there were no hard fights, there he could knock down and calmly control. There was no person who could calmly fight with him or resist in a fight,” Makhachev said in an interview with Match TV.

Already in the first round, Makhachev proved that those who believed in his superiority were right. He looked better on the stand, but when it came to the ground, the excellent grappler Oliveira was simply helpless. The Russian carried his opponent on the canvas, controlled him for a long time, and simply led in blows with a devastating score. Charles’s team was very afraid that the Brazilian would be sued in the UAE, but they had to be wary of an early defeat.

After the break, Oliveira tried to seize the initiative, but his activity was extinguished by his opponent, who skillfully fettered all the impulses of the Brazilian. At some point, Charles risked attacking Islam with his knee while jumping, but miscalculated somewhere and missed a counterattack, falling to the canvas. Next, Makhachev already tortured his opponent on the ground, where he put the Brazilian in a chokehold and forced him to surrender. It was a clear victory; there was no point in doubting the Russian fighter!

Watch live broadcasts of UFC tournaments on the Match TV and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.

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