The past weekend saw Islam Makhachev defeat Charles Oliveira with an arm triangle to become the new UFC Lightweight champion. Speaking before the fight with Daniel Cormier, he was skeptical about certain MMA black belts, including Dustin Poirier amongst others.
Specifically, Makhachev said “We have to cancel many black belts” whilst talking about the legitimacy of BJJ black belts in MMA and their supposed skills. He added, “All these guys, Chandler, Gaethje, Poirier. These guys don’t have nothing. In the ground, I don’t know. Who give him that? (black belt relating to Poirier) We have to check that moment. They make Jiu Jitsu look bad because a lot of guys have black belts but I don’t know brother.”
Despite some billing his fight against Oliveira as a clash between Sambo and BJJ, Makhachev seemed genuinely respectful towards BJJ. Instead, he appeared to be disappointed with those he didn’t rate as BJJ black belts. If you think about it, there is a difference between the two.
