UFC News: Islam Makhachev Still Overshadowed by Khabib Nurmagomedov Before UFC 302, Claims Bo Nickal

One cannot talk about Islam Mkahchev without mentioning Khabib Nurmagomedov, and vice versa. The two have been friends since childhood and started training martial arts under ‘The Eagle’s father. Since then, they have been together throughout their MMA journey.

While Nurmagomedov, despite his somewhat premature retirement in 2020, is considered one of the greatest of all time. And Makhachev, who became the lightweight champ two years ago, also seems well on his way to carving his own corner in the GOAT conversation in large part due to his excellent grappling and wrestling skills on the ground since joining the promotion in 2015. The reigning 155-pound champ is almost universally considered one of the greatest grapplers in the promotion. Some, such as  GOAT contender Demetrious Johnson, have gone as far as to say that Makhachev is a “better version” of ‘The Eagle’, but another UFC wrestling phenom Bo Nickal doesn’t think so.

It’s alright: Bo Nickal on Islam’s wrestling

In a recent interview, undefeated UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal, a superstar collegiate wrestler, who won two NCAA D1 championships in his stint at Penn State, was asked his honest assessment of Islam Makhachev’s wrestling skills.

Surprisingly, the All-American did not have a very high estimation of the Dagestani’s wrestling, terming it as just ‘alright’ and ‘good’, but not ‘world-class’. In addition, the undefeated UFC middleweight opined that he found Khabib Nurmagomedov’s ground game much more dangerous than the reigning champ.

“It’s alright. I mean I honestly haven’t watched a ton of film on him, I’ve watched some and he’s got better, like his wrestling is not like Khabib’s. Khabib has much better wrestling in my opinion overall. But he’s got like tricky, sneaky stuff,” he said about the two.

On the other hand, Nickal felt that Makhachev was better in the striking department than ‘The Eagle’, and credited the former for being smart in his grappling. “I think his striking is a little better than Khabib. It’s a little, like, sharper. I think it’s [Makhachev’s wrestling is] okay, it’s better than average. Not like world-class wrestling. But, it’s good,” Nickal added.

While Nurmagomedov being considered a better wrestler is not a controversial opinion, it is somewhat astonishing to see that Nickal didn’t consider him very skilled on the ground. This is because, as we have mentioned, Makhachev is considered one of the best (if not the best) grapplers in the promotion by many.

Islam Makhachev plans to use his wrestling against striker Poirier

Islam Makhachev plans to use his grappling to deal with Dustin Poirier at their UFC 302 clash. Poirier, one of the best strikers in the promotion, has an acute lack of a ground game, despite his over a decade in the promotion.

On the other hand, this lack of ground game is a testament to how dangerous and effective ‘Diamond’s striking actually is. Poirier has been fighting top guys in the UFC’s most stacked, and competitive division for nearly a decade, with his heavy hands, and willingness to stand and bang in the pocket having kept him in or near the top-five rankings of the division, along with providing him with two shots at the undisputed title prior to the upcoming one at UFC 302.

However, the Lafayette native came up short both times. One of the main reasons behind this is that he ran into two of the greatest grapplers in UFC history: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira in his lightweight title bouts in 2019 and 2021 respectively. And Poirier, due to his sub-par wrestling was easy prey for them once the fight went to the ground.

Now, however, the UFC vet, who has 30 appearances in the UFC octagon, is probably on his last title run. And he will face another dangerous grappler. Will he fall to Makhachev as he fell to Nurmagomedov or Oliveira? Or will the third time finally be the charm? This being MMA, the only thing that could be said for sure is that nothing could be said for sure until one man emerges victorious at their UFC 302 clash.