Islam Makhachev has opened up about how he almost pulled the plug on his teammate during a disaster showing at UFC Qatar.
Tagir Ulanbekov was choked out by the returning Kyoji Horiguchi in a flyweight clash to open Saturday’s important card. It marked a second defeat of the night for Makhachev within the corner after his fellow welterweight Saygid Izagakhmaev lost a split decision to Nicolas Dalby.
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The newly-crowned welterweight champion spoke to the media after touching down back in Dagestan today. And he spoke about how he feels Ulanbekov must now consider a change in divisions after a poor showing in his latest outing.
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Islam Makhachev almost threw within the towel at UFC Qatar
While it’s standard fare to see fighters pulled out by their corners within the boxing world, you almost never see it in MMA. It’s particularly rare within the UFC where there’s a split between win and show money.
That was perhaps why Islam Makhachev opted against it at UFC Qatar on Saturday night while watching his teammate Tagir Ulanbekov take a beating. He had struggled to get right down to the load, with the welterweight champion claiming he severely depleted himself in making 125.5lb.
“It’s no secret that Tagir is definitely older than me,” Makhachev told the media in Russia earlier today as he returned home along with his two belts. “And I saw his entire weight cut… Nobody had a tougher cut than he did.
“Even on fight day, I talked to him before and after the bout, telling him he shouldn’t be leaving a lot energy in the load cut. Yesterday, Tagir showed possibly only 50% of himself. He walked on the market, and after the very first exchange he was already swollen and couldn’t breathe.
“Truthfully, I even desired to stop the fight. But knowing Tagir’s character — that he fights until the very end — I didn’t do it. He simply didn’t feel comfortable enough to go on the market and fight. I believe our team will sit down and make a choice — Tagir won’t be cutting weight like that ever again.”