By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight king Islam Makhachev will be back in the famous octagon in the first month of 2025.
As the Russian superstar is still healing up from a torn ligament in his hand, one of his coaches, former UFC undisputed champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, already gave an update that he will be missing the rest of 2024 and instead, already agreed to a scheduled comeback fight in January.
Makhachev was supposed to defend his UFC lightweight belt later this year but their initial plans had to be scrapped due to his injury.
The all-around MMA star is seeking a fourth title defense and is coming off an impressive submission victory over Dustin Poirier three months ago.
Before his third successful title defense campaign, Makhachev first gained popularity after sweeping Alexander Volkanovski in his first two championship fights.
Despite the accolades and the imposing figure Volkanovski had against the younger Makhachev, the reigning champion defied the odds and scored a unanimous decision win in their first encounter and a KO result in the following fight.
Nurmagomedov still hasn’t spilled Makhachev’s next opponent in January but they are certain that the lightweight champ is back at optimum state for the rest of the 2025 fighting calendar.
Makhachev hurt his hand during his win over Poirier as the explosive fight was dragged until the fifth and final round.
With everybody expecting Makhachev to knock Poirier out in the early rounds, the crowd favorite proved why he is one of the toughest UFC fighters and joined the list of the few MMA artists who reached the fifth round going up against the Russian stalwart.
As of now, rumors are already circulating that Makhachev will be facing current no.1 contender Arman Tsarukyan to open his 2025 campaign.
