Javier Mendes is preparing Islamic Makhachev to go to five hard rounds with welterweight champion Jacques Della Maddalena.
After vacancies of the lightweight title following the UFC 315 event in Montreal, “Dagestani Destoyer” will move up to 170 due to a crack at the department’s new top dog. There is no official announcement about when and where the two will compete, but Makhachev and his team should be one of the biggest fights of 2025.
Makhachev, who finished eight of his last nine opponents, has already appeared in the sportsbook as a 2-on-1 favorite, but Mendes, the legendary MMA coach and founder of the American Kickboxing Academy, is preparing his fighters not only to go far, but to dominate all 25 minutes of the impending title clash.
“I’m not going to end him because it’s myopia, in honor of Jack and the Champion,” Mendes said in an interview with Submission Radio. “I always like to go to a five-round war. I like to be in a mental battle from start to finish. Anyone else, anyone on my team, can say, ‘Yeah, we’re going to finish him, we’re going to do it.’ But it’s not me.
“I’m going to a five-round war. We’re going to the toes with them. We win every time. We’re going to win every minute.
Since 2019, only one fighter has been keeping his distance from Islamic Makachev.
Makhachev only made five decisions within the Octagon, winning everything, including his decline war with Alexander Volkanovsky at Australia’s UFC 284.
Dustin Poirier took him far last summer and succumbed to Dalce Chalk past the halfway point of the fifth round.