UFC welterweight veteran Vicente Luque considers Islamic Makachev’s entrance to the 170-pound class to be “very cool” and hopes the Russian star will succeed.
However, size can be an issue.
A 5-foot lightweight with a 70.5-inch reach, Makhachev reigned with 15 wins in a row, finishing up Alexander Volkanovsky, Dustin Poilier and Renato Moicano before moving up the weight class on his second belt. Makhachev is tall and at a disadvantage against welterweight champion Jack Della Madalena and all athletes currently ranked in the top 15.
“I trained with him a few times so I can say he’s really very good on the ground. “He’s not weak for the department. He’s always been fighting at 155, so if he’s trying to add more weight compared to when he was trained, I don’t know how he’s working. But he has a lot of pressure and isometric strength.”
Mahachev was able to dominate the opposition with his lightweight wrestling and submission skills, and while he had slammed many jiu-jitsu black belts in his career, it is more difficult to do the same with a 15 pound weight in the weight class. Especially as he is expected to make his welterweight debut against newly crowned champion Della Madalena, who won a five-finish 8-0 run under the UFC banner.
“His ground game is very sophisticated, right?” Ruk said of Makhachev. “As for height, he’s not that tall, but he compensates for the ground and with his top-notch wrestling, I don’t think he has any issues in the division. Of course, that means that it’s not. We’re strong. He’s very tough so I can say he has no chance of becoming a champion, but he has to work hard.”
Does that mean Luque expects Makhachev to operate Dela Maddalena to the ground with his excellent grappling to win the second UFC belt? It’s not that fast.
“I think there are a lot of factors (in the fight),” Luk said. “A lot of people think only about grappling. If this is a submission tournament, they say, ‘He’s going to kill.’ He’s very good on the ground. However, MMA is more complicated.
The UFC has not yet announced the date for the Makhachev Shot at Glory. In the meantime, Luk has been preparing for his first battle in 2025 against Kevin Holland at UFC 316 in Newark in 2025. The Brazilian did a short job on Themba Gorimbo with the recent Octagon’s arrival in December, aiming to chase the ever-busy “Trailblazer” on June 7th.
“I think it’s going to be a great fight,” Ruk said. “It’s a great matchup for me in terms of style. I like to fight offensive enemies, fighters. I can capitalize against their aggression, their feet and the aggression on the ground.
Luk and the Netherlands are two of the most active welterweights on the UFC roster, with the Brazilians entering the appearance of the 23rd Octagon in a decade, and the Netherlands taking their 26th walk in the cage since their debut in 2018.
“When you’re active, you get sharper, but you don’t develop new tricks. I’m more predictable,” Luk said. “I’m studying his fights, preparing for what he’s doing, and I’m also preparing for amazing things, but if he comes to the way he’s fighting these days, he doesn’t know what his goal is.
“The busy run I did was when I had some fights (2018 and 2019), which ranked me well in the category at that point, but I think it’s a difference now,” he continued. “I was in the top five, I showed my potential. Many people I fought are increasing like Berals (Muhammad) and (Joaquin) Buckley. I never had a simple fight.) But it’s not that moment, just to fight and stay active without a goal.
“My goal is to go back to the top this year and climb to the top, so I have to be smarter and I have proven that I have the skills to be on top. I don’t have to fight everyone and test myself with everyone anymore.