Islam Makhachev claims sports culture is why UFC’s American-born fighters are struggling. UFC champions like Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell were instrumental to UFC’s early boom. Today, only one of the 11 current UFC champions was born in the U.S.
Makhachev is currently preparing to achieve a second weight-class title after setting a record number of lightweight title defenses before vacating the belt. The Dagestani fighter, a prized pupil of former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, has noticed how much his American-born counterparts are struggling at the highest level. Makhachev labels America’s fight sports identity as the culprit.
“Our guys live for this sport,” Makhachev said in a Russian-translated interview with Ushatayka’s Islam Babadzhanov. “In the USA, for example, they don’t worry even if they compete badly. But behind our guys, there is a family, the whole city, the whole Republic. [They] feel this responsibility, and go out with full responsibility and win.”
Women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison is the only reigning American-born UFC champion. Some, like bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, live and train exclusively in the U.S. Makhachev himself spends much of his training camp with American Kickboxing Academy in San Joe, California. He believes the trend will only continue as more foreign fighters pair their ambition with America’s gold standard for training.
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“They just started signing more of our guys — that’s the reason…” Makhachev said. “If they keep signing, I’m 100 percent sure there will be more champions from the Caucasus, Dagestan, and Chechnya.”
Makhachev, one of MMA’s most prominent fighters, understands that athletic excellence is half the battle in prize fighting. That’s why he urges his teammates to market themselves to the North American audience.
“I’m explaining [to my] guys to learn English and how to promote their fights,” Makhachev said in the same interview. “That’s an important thing. We have to sell live events and be interesting to the public.”
Makhachev is rumored to challenge recently crowned UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena at a later date.
