Javier Mendez is making ready Islam Makhachev to go 5 arduous rounds with welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena.
After vacating his light-weight title following the occasions of UFC 315 in Montreal, the ‘Dagestani Destoyer’ will transfer as much as 170 for a crack on the division’s new prime canine. No official bulletins concerning when and the place the 2 will tussle, however Makhachev and his workforce are already deep in preparation for what is bound to be one of many greatest fights of 2025.
Having completed eight of his final 9 opponents, Makhachev is already displaying up on sportsbooks as a 2-to-1 favourite, however Mendez, legendary MMA coach and founding father of American Kickboxing Academy, is making ready his fighter to not simply go the space, however to dominate all 25 minutes of their impending title conflict.
“Due to the respect for Jack and any champion, I by no means say we’re going to complete him as a result of that’s shortsightedness,” Mendez mentioned in an interview with Submission Radio. “I all the time like going five-round wars. I like being within the psychological battle all over from the start to the tip. Anyone else, anyone on my workforce might say, ‘Yeah, we’re going to complete him on this, we’re going to do this.’ However not me.
“I’m going to go five-round struggle. We’re going to go toe-to-toe with them. We’re going to win each spherical. We’re going to win each minute, , and that sort of state of affairs is the way in which I prefer to be engaged.”
Since 2019, just one fighter has gone the space with Islam Makhachev
Makhachev has solely gone to choice 5 occasions contained in the Octagon, successful all of them, together with his struggle of attrition with Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in Australia.
Dustin Poirier almost took him the space final summer time earlier than succumbing to a d’arce choke simply previous the midway level of the fifth spherical.
