10 years ago Islam Makhachev made his UFC debut. He won via rear naked choke in the 2nd round at UFC 187
10 years ago Islam Makhachev made his UFC debut. He won via rear naked choke in the 2nd round at UFC 187
Makhachev, over 32, achieved a 15-fight win streak, a rare feat in UFC history, with only 4 fighters managing this in over 5,000 fighters.
In his last 9 fights, Makhachev has finished 8 opponents.
In his 15 win streak, Makhachev has 10 finishes.
Became lightweight champion, broke the division record for title defenses (4 defenses), became number 1 in PFP.
Built the second-longest streak of consecutive rounds won in the division history - 25. Only Khabib Nurmagomedov has won more rounds in a row - 31.
Broke two winning streaks of 10+ consecutive fights won (Oliveira and Tsarukyan) and a win streak of 20+ consecutive fights won (Volkanovski was on 22 consecutive victories in MMA).
Submitted 5 black belts (Moicano, Poirier, Oliveira, Moises, Johnson).
Became the only fighter in UFC history who won by submission in EVERY round out of a possible 5.
Makhachev has used 10 different takedowns in the UFC (J-pull, Scissors takedown, front leg sweep, inside hook, underhook, etc). 95% of UFC fighters don't use more than 2-3 types of takedowns.
Makhachev ranks third in history for most title fight submission wins, behind only Demetrious Johnson (5) and Jon Jones (4), but they had fewer fights before winning the title.
Over the last 10 years, there have only been 3 first-round submission victories in UFC title fights for men: Makhachev over Moicano, Jones over Gane, and Figueiredo over Perez. Makhachev won with 5 different types of submissions in the UFC.