Islam Makhachev wants to feel the utter ecstasy and sheer joy of winning a title for the first time. And how is that possible? Well, by capturing a second-division gold! The lightweight champion has been calling for a welterweight title shot for the past two years. Becoming a two-division champ, after all, would also help him shore up his legacy as he fast approaches GOAT contender status. But Chael Sonnen has some bad news for the Dagestani champ.

On being asked by Daniel Cormier on their ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ show about the prospect of Makhachev becoming a double champ this year, ‘Uncle Chael’ gave his blunt take. “There’s none. And I’ll tell you why. I don’t think there’s any legitimate beef between [Shavkat] Rakhmonov and Islam. And I know that Belal and Islam are not going to do that. They’ve got the Khabib tie-in and it doesn’t matter if that’s five years deep or five months deep, once it’s there it’s there,” he said.

Belal Muhammad, of course, is the UFC’s reigning 170lbs champ. In fact, ‘Bully B’ is quite close with the whole Khabib-Islam camp, having trained with their team in Dagestan before his title fight against Leon Edwards last year. And since the Dagestanis have a strict ‘no fighting teammates or friends’ policy, the P4P king will never fight Muhammad.

On the other hand, Muhammad is set to face undefeated phenom Shavkat Rakhmonov sometime this year. Most fancy the Kazakh boogeyman to beat Muhammad. This may open the door for Makhachev to get his second UFC belt. But, ‘Uncle Chael’ has poured cold water on that possibility too. This is because there is no animosity between Makhachev and Rakhmonov. And the UFC would not wanna bet on a feud not guaranteed to succeed.

After all, the UFC is a business first and foremost. Makhachev-Rakhmonov is just not big enough at the moment to be seriously considered. The fans will certainly like to see them fight, but as far as the PPV buys go, they probably won’t be much more than another good UFC card. This brings us to the main problem with Makhachev which keeps him from really becoming a megastar.

Sonnen explains the one thing that keeps Islam Makhachev away from mega-stardom

Chael Sonnen pointed out the lightweight division is the toughest and most stacked in the entire promotion. It is the pinnacle of the sport if you will. No other belt is as difficult to win or keep in MMA than the UFC’s 155-pound strap. And Makhachev, as the holder of that belt should be an almost transcendent superstar like Conor McGregor, his friend Khabib Nurmagomedov, or even Ilia Topuria.

But the Makhachkala native lacks the one thing that could push him to the next level- charisma. Makhachev is funny enough and very well-liked among fans, but he doesn’t have the mic skills of a Topuria (let alone McGregor), the sheer aura of Khabib, or even the trolling abilities of Dricus Du Plessis. This is the main reason why Sonnen thinks Makhachev will not fight for a second title anytime soon.

“And simply Islam won’t be given the opportunity… But as far as even getting an opportunity to have another belt, I do not believe that will happen for him. I don’t think he has the charisma to go out and do what needs to be done to get that play,” Sonnen added. What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s take on Islam Makhachev’s double-champ status hopes?