Islam Makhachev faces his toughest test at UFC 311 next month since claiming the 155lbs title. After all, the lightweight champ will face fellow world-class wrestler, Arman Tsarukyan, atop the UFC’s first PPV card of 2025. Makhachev’s fourth title defense pits him against an elite wrestler in the form of the current #1 ranked lightweight. Not to mention Tsarukyan holds one-punch knockout power in his hands, which makes him a double threat for Makhachev.

This is why their matchup is so intriguing not just for fans, but also fellow fighters. UFC lightweight star and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s former opponent Michael Johnson, for example, has picked Makhachev to win that fight. “I’m a ride with Islam on this one,” Johnson told Mike Perry on the latter’s podcast. Johnson, of course, is well aware of the caliber of fighters the Dagestanis are, having been dominated by Khabib in their short-notice UFC 205 clash, where ‘The Eagle’ famously asked him to ‘give up’ during a relentless ground-and-pound session.

To which ‘Platinum’ pointed out that “but people are saying that Arman has a good shot but I don’t know.” Johnson somewhat agreed, but felt that Makhachev’s takedown defense would be an important factor in determining the result of the bout.

In addition, he pointed out that the champ’s striking had progressed a lot, which made Johnson favor Makhachev. “I think he [Tsarukyan] does have a good shot with his wrestling. But we’ll see if he can get him down. I think he might have the better striking but from what I’ve seen, Islam looks like he’s just getting better on his feet,” he added.

Makhachev, of course, comes from the same legendary Dagestani stable as Khabib Nurmagomedov. Moreover, he is probably the best wrestler in the entire promotion at the moment. But his striking, too, has improved significantly so that he was able to knock out the nigh unstoppable Alexander Volkanovski in their UFC 294 rematch last year. But Tsarukyan has a fascinating game plan for UFC 311, which could see him spring an upset if it succeeds.

Arman Tsarukyan’s unorthodox game plan against Islam Makhachev

Arman Tsarukyan’s game plan for the Islam Makhachev fight is simple! To disrupt Makhachev’s concrete rhythm. And how exactly does the challenger hope to do that? Well, by taking a page out of Mike Tyson’s book. Tyson, of course, once famously said that “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” And Tsarukyan’s entire plan is to punch Makhachev hard enough in the face so that any game plans he has leap out of the window.

“I think when like [talking about] game plan, when you got like hard punch, you forgot about game plan. So if I hurt him very well, he’s going to forget about the game plan… My last fight  Oliveira choked me and like after that moment my game plan was gone. So I didn’t even remember what was my game plan. So that’s why I got to hurt him very hard in the first round and then doesn’t matter what game plan they have,” Tsarukyan said in a recent interview.

While the Armenian is more than capable of hurting Makhachev, better strikers than him haven’t been able to do that to the champ. At least not since he has won the title. On the other hand, it seems that Tsarukyan wants to make their fight a battle of wills and a test of each man’s character. And this always makes for great and entertaining fights. What do you think about Michael Johnson’s take on the Makhachev-Tsarukyan matchup?