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Although more than a year has passed since Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from the sport and it is quite clear that there will be no return, his name is still associated with fighters from the very top of the lightweight category.
Namely, Javier Mendez, the head coach of the American Kickboxing Academy and also a former Khabib coach, touched the current champion Charles Oliveira through his YouTube channel. Mendez believes that despite his great BJJ skills, Charles Oliveira is not up to par in this segment either, at least when it comes to pairing against his Dagestani players, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.
'' I know they would both beat Charles, that's my opinion. Stylistically speaking, Islam is good at standing, he can hit kicks well. Khabib was not great at kicking." "He would have to grapple with Charles and would probably dominate him in that segment.
In fact, I know Khabib would dominate him. My personal opinion is, no matter how good Charles is, I think Islam would also dominate the ground floor. " Charles Oliveira is the UFC record holder when it comes to winning by submission.
The Brazilian enrolled as many as 15 of them, and parterre and jiu-jitsu are his strongest weapons. Still, it should be noted that Oliveira lost three times with submission under the auspices of the UFC. Ricardo Lamas (guillotine), Anthony Pettis (also guillotine), and Jim Miller (kneebar) completed his work on the ground floor.
Makhachev vs Oliveira
Of course, Oliveira has progressed since then, but Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev are significantly better partners than the aforementioned fighters who beat Charles Oliveira by submission.
Unfortunately, we will probably never find out how Khabib would deal with Oliveira. However, Islam Makhachev is one victory away from attacking the belt. If Dagestani passes the challenge in the form of Beneil Dariush, on February 26 at the UFC Fight Night 202 event, it is easily possible to get some answers.
Oliveira is facing a title defense against Justin Gaethje before a potential showdown with Makhachev. Of course, unless Conor McGregor intervenes, and knowing the UFC and Dana White, that option is always possible. Most UFC fans are most interested in Makachev’s fight against Charles Oliveira, as the two are currently the most interesting and look like the best fighters in their category right now.
Let's hope that Dana White will give us that pleasure, and the options for such a thing are quite realistic