Who will Islam Makhachev face next? This is the question that is bothering most of the MMA fans out there. Makhachev was last seen in action at UFC 302 in June, where he defeated Dustin Poirier. The fight went the full distance, but the champion managed to come out on top in the final round.

And just two months later, he seems to have found his new opponent.

Max Holloway currently is on a roll in the lightweight division and seems unstoppable. ‘Blessed’ is coming fresh off a dominant victory against Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 in April, which caught the attention of many, including the champ. Makhachev was previously eyeing the welterweight title in order to become a two-division champion. However, Belal Muhammad’s unwillingness to face him has forced him to change his plans. During his a Q&A session ahead of the UF Abu Dhabi event, he showed his interest in fighting the BMF title holder. However, he has one condition in place for the fight to happen.

While speaking to the host Makhachev praised ‘Blessed’ and said, “Last fight is a great performance for him you know and he beat Gaethje. Knock him out that’s right.” However, his performance isn’t quite enough to get him a title shot. Makhachev made it clear that Holloway first needs to get past the challenge of Ilia Topuria to face the lightweight champion. He said, “If he beat Topuria, but this is a hard match for him. If he beat him and UFC want this match, let’s go. Let’s do it. Because this guy have experience in lightweight and he beat tough guys couple of tough guys. That’s why. Why not?” 

This is interesting considering how Makhachev was once dismissive of the UFC BMF Champion after the latter’s fight with Justin Gaethje. “I don’t want to make people upset, but this is a useless fight for a useless belt. Nobody gains anything from this fight,” Makhachev had said in March. The Russian mixed martial artist had further explained how Holloway—instead of concentrating on another featherweight title—was instead vying for a weight class above his own for an ‘insignificant’ title.

However, just a month later, he had also shared his wish to fight Holloway with the same condition. “If he beats a couple more guys in my division, we can fight. I don’t want to give him chance now because I have some contenders who I have to beat. Now I have Dustin, after we’ll have Arman [Tsarukyan]. I think I’ll have some [work] in my division, he has [work] in his division. Maybe if he wins his next fight. Maybe [if] he beats [Ilia] Topuria, and I finish all of my two fights, maybe,” he had said to the New York Post.

Notably, Holloway has a 26-7-0 record. He’s set to clash against Ilia Topuria at the UFC 300 in October this year.

But before Makhachev can make the Holloway clash a reality, injury woes still plague him. While there were rumors that Dagestan-native would feature at the UFC 308 event in Abu Dhabi. However, he shared an update about his injury, which might upset his fans.

Islam Makhachev return postponed

Last week, the lightweight kingpin, while speaking to a Russian media outlet, made it clear that he suffered a partial ligament tear. He suffered the injury during his UFC 302 clash and it seems he will be out for quite some time now.

Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez, while speaking to MMA journalist Helen Yee, made it clear that he will be out till the end of the year. During the interview, he said, “Probably late December, or maybe January, I don’t know, depends what the UFC and them can come up with. But he’s definitely not going to be ready to fight in October…” 

While most of his fans are upset about the injury the champion seems pretty chilled about it. During his Q&A session in Abu Dhabi, he opened up about his injury While speaking to the host, he shared his opinion on whether he would be needing surgery and said, “A small thing, it’s a part of this sport. I have small injury right now. I cut my hand ligament and we will see next 10 days, I have to wear these things, and doctor will make decision.”

With Makhachev out of UFC 308, whom can we expect to see next in the lightweight division? Holloway and Topuria were scheduled to take on each other at UFC 306 in the Las Vegas Sphere. But with that fight gone where can we see them next?

Will they be headlining the UFC 308 fight card? Let us know what you think in the comments below.