Why Islam Makhachev Isn’t Worried About Breaking Anderson Silva’s Record
UFC star Islam Makhachev isn’t thinking too much about tying or breaking Anderson Silva’s win streak record as he prepares for UFC 322 tomorrow night.
On Saturday, Islam Makhachev will challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the UFC welterweight championship. If he wins, he will join an exclusive club of fighters who have been able to win belts in two weight classes in the UFC. In addition to that, though, he will take his current win streak up to 16 fights, which will match the record set by the great Anderson Silva. Currently, he is tied with Kamaru Usman, who was on 15 before his head kick knockout loss to Leon Edwards.
As we know, Islam Makhachev is an outstanding fighter – but if he is able to tie this record, that would take him to entirely new heights. Then, if he does manage to get to 16, he will have the opportunity to set a brand new UFC record when defending the welterweight strap for the first time. Whether you love him or you hate him, there is no denying that he is one of the best to ever do it.
In his recent pre-fight scrum, though, Islam Makhachev made it crystal clear that his number one priority and focus is on getting through Jack Della Maddalena, which isn’t exactly going to be an easy task given what we know about the Australian champion.
Islam Makhachev isn’t thinking about Anderson Silva’s record
“I don’t think about Anderson Silva’s record. I just think about Jack Maddalena’s belt and that’s it. I just want to take this belt.”
“This is big things for me, it’s a dream and big fight. I’m going to be number 10 if I get the belt—number ten who are like two-division champion, you know. It’s a big thing for me.”
The mixed martial arts world needs fighters like Makhachev who are going to go out there and break down barriers. Alas, as exciting as this all may be, Jack Della Maddalena is more than ready to play the role of spoiler, and it’ll be exciting to see how things pan out tomorrow in NYC.
