GSP Points to One Fighter Who Showed How Islam Makhachev Can Be Beaten
Georges St-Pierre recently pointed out the one fighter who showed the world how Islam Makhachev can be stopped. Makhachev so far has just one loss in his MMA career, which came against Adriano Martins at UFC 192 in 2015.
Martins knocked the Russian fighter out in Round 1 with a powerful right hook while the latter was trying to close the distance.
After that loss, Makhachev did not look back. He racked up a 10-fight win streak and then became the lightweight champion in 2022. At 155 pounds, he defended his strap four times before vacating it in 2025 in pursuit of two-division glory.
Makhachev recently dethroned Jack Della Maddalena and became the 170-pound kingpin. He had more than 19 minutes of control time vs. the Australian and looked even better than he did at lightweight.
GSP reveals the only way to beat Islam Makhachev
Analysts and fight fans consider Makhachev unbeatable. However, ‘GSP’ has reminded everyone that every fighter has shortcomings, and even if the P4P king is the best right now, St-Pierre’s former training partner Mansour Barnaoui once demonstrated to the world how to stop the future two-division UFC champion.
Mansour Barnaoui and Islam Makhachev clashed in a three-rounder in 2013 at M-1 Challenge 38, and the Russian won by unanimous decision. However, the bout was closer than the scorecards suggested. Another important thing to note is that a few days before the Makhachev fight, Mansour’s father died, and despite such a devastating personal loss, he gave it his all in the ring.
‘GSP’ says, only a guy who can match Makhachev’s wrestling can beat him. He told TheBreakTalk:
“I think right now, on paper, Islam Makhachev is the best fighter pound for pound. I believe if Islam would fight that guy [Adriano Martins], he would beat him 9 out of 10 times, but that one time he got clipped, and that can happen. To beat Islam Makhachev, you would need a guy that can match his wrestling in a way that either controls his takedowns or, if he gets put down, manages to scramble back up and also fight him standing up.
There’s a guy that gave him a lot of trouble; he was my training partner, his name was Mansour Barnaoui. It was in Islam’s early career. If you look at that fight, it could’ve gone the other way as well. The way Mansour fought Makhachev is the way you need to fight.”
Check out Georges St-Pierre’s comments below:
