2025 Will Be the Year of Islam Makhachev
UFC 311, the first UFC PPV of 2025, will be headlined by the UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev. Makhachev, who has established an all-time resume with a record of 26-1, will look to legitimize his standing even more among the greatest fighters ever. This is because Makhachev claimed that he would be looking to fight three times in 2024, though he only ended up fighting once, which was at UFC 302 against Dustin Poirier. This means that the goal for him in this upcoming year is likely to successfully defend his title three times and potentially even move up to challenge for welterweight gold.
At UFC 311, Islam Makhachev will defend his lightweight title against number one contender Arman Tsarukyan. Tsarukyan, who is coming off a huge victory over Charles Oliveira, is known for his grappling game like Makhachev is. However, the biggest thing that differentiates these two is that Islam has also established himself as a top-level striker. These two have fought in 2019, with Makhachev coming out the victor via decision, and considering his highly improved striking and his always great wrestling, he will probably come out of this fight with the win as well.
If he successfully wins his title fight at UFC 311, Islam Makhachev will likely take on Charles Oliveira in another defense. This fight is not just another defense, though, as these two are considered two of the top three lightweights of all time. Makhachev stopped Oliveira’s dominant UFC Lightweight Championship reign at UFC 280 in 2022 and has now had a dominant reign himself. After his dominant win over Michael Chandler at UFC 309, Oliveira will likely receive the winner of Makhachev vs Tsarukyan, which means the two legends could step into the Octagon once more. Considering that Islam’s first title defense will happen in January 2025, it’s safe to say that this defense will also happen sometime within that year.
In the past few years, Islam Makhachev has hinted at moving up to 170 and challenging for the UFC Welterweight Championship. Unfortunately for him, the current champion in the welterweight division is Belal Muhammad, someone who Islam has trained with in the past, most recently in the buildup to his title match at UFC 304, and will likely not fight. However, Belal will defend his title against Shavkat Rakhmonov sometime in 2025, and many fans believe that a new champion will be crowned in that matchup, which would open up the opportunity for Makhachev to become a double champion. Considering a potential UFC Welterweight Championship win as well as multiple possible defenses in the lightweight division, it would not be a shock to anyone if Islam Makhachev ends another calendar year as the UFC’s top star.
