Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov are as close as brothers. For most of his career, Makhachev lived in the shadow of his illustrious UFC lightweight champion predecessor, who many consider one of the (if not the) greatest of all time. But with the Makhachkala native having equaled Nurmagomedov’s record of three title defenses and consecutive wins, there are murmurs about who will be better.

In addition, Makhachev has developed a pretty dynamic and dangerous striking skillset, the kind that Nurmagomedov never had. This is why one of the most interesting questions in the MMA world right now is- who would win in a fight between the Dagestani dynamic duo? Since Nurmagomedov is retired (and never would have fought Makhachev even if he wasn’t), we asked ChatGPT to predict the winner of their fight.

AI predicts the winner of Islam Makhachev vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s wrestling, of course, was his strongest suit. And that is exactly the case for Islam Makhachev, too. As far as striking goes, Makhachev holds the edge there, as we have already mentioned. Since the duo have trained together for most of their lives, it is also worth noting that the Dagestanis are intimately aware of the ins and outs of their game.

With his better striking and stellar ground game, many may think that Islam Makhachev would win. However, that is not what ChatGPT thinks. Instead, the AI chatbot predicted a win for Nurmagomedov because of a few quite compelling reasons. While the chatbot did predict that the initial rounds would be competitive, Nurmagomedov’s “pressure, cardio, and ability to control the fight on the ground” would be too much for Makhachev to deal with.

In fact, the AI chatbot thinks that Nurmagomedov’s “ability to win scrambles and maintain control” because of his superior strength would prove to be the deciding factor in the fight. In the end, ChatGPT sees ‘The Eagle’ winning a unanimous decision after five rounds. Of course, we then asked ChatGPT the next logical question.

If not Islam Makhachev, who can beat ‘The Eagle’? AI answers

A few things need to be noted before we talk about ChatGPT’s answer to this question. Anyone who wants to beat ‘The Eagle’ needs to have a stellar ground game to deal with Nurmagomedov’s anaconda-like grappling prowess, and solid striking to trouble Nurmagomedov on the feet.

And ChatGPT thinks that such a fighter exists in the form of Georges St-Pierre. ‘GSP’, after all, is considered one of the greatest ever MMA fighters and had an amazingly effective ground game. In addition, he was a better striker than Nurmagomedov and ChatGPT thinks that the Canadian’s “jab and kicks would keep Khabib at bay and prevent him from closing the distance easily.”

Perhaps even more importantly, GSP’s stellar fight IQ and “ability to adapt mid-fight and execute game plans flawlessly would allow him to exploit Khabib’s striking vulnerabilities and avoid prolonged grappling exchanges.” What do you think about the AI prediction for the Nurmagomedov vs. Makhachev clash?