Islam Makhachev is done with the lightweight division. Although the fighter has often talked about moving up to the welterweight division, the opponent is seldom discussed. Now, Makhachev’s team seems to have eyes on Belal Muhammad and Leon Edwards. 

Recently, on the ‘Submission Radio’ podcast, the Dagestani team’s coach, Javier Mendez, revealed that despite being a member of Nurmagomedov’s team, Makhachev now wants a fight against Muhammad. Let’s take a peek at what the MMA coach had to say.

Will Islam Makhachev fight Belal Muhammad?

During the conversation, Denis Shrukatov asked the MMA coach what the UFC’s response was when the lightweight champ proposed to fight in the welterweight division. Furthermore, he asked if Makhachev would take on the winner of Muhammad and Edwards, aiming straight at the title. Without wasting a second, the coach stated that the Dagestani mixed martial artist would pounce on the fight if he had a chance, regardless of who the opponent was. But the pointers were indirectly aimed towards Muhammad.

The American Kickboxing Academy coach and founder revealed that ‘Remember The Name’ was, in fact, training with Makhachev’s team, currently. Without a doubt, the guys were rooting for the 35-year-old mixed martial artist to claim victory over ‘Rocky’. “I mean, you know, right now, you know, Belal is training with us, so you know, he’s our brother. So, we’re looking at like Belal, we want him to win, you know.” Mendez didn’t seem to falter while calling out Muhammad as Makhachev’s probable opponent in the future. 

Thereafter, Mendez continued, “But I’m assuming whatever the UFC offers Islam, he’s going to take when he’s ready to fight. No matter when he’s willing to fight, no matter who he’s willing to fight, because I don’t think Islam is gonna have a preference of who he fights. It’s gonna be a when they want him to fight if he can fight during those times.” He is indeed one of the fighters Makhachev has eyes on, despite being a ‘brother.’ But he’s not the only one the champ wants to fight in the upper-weight class.

The Dagestani champ apparently wanted Leon Edwards

According to reports, Makhachev had previously asked the UFC CEO, Dana White for a fight against ‘Rocky’. However, White didn’t agree and wanted the champ to have a few more fights in the lightweight division. Despite White’s verdict, Makhachev has repeatedly put forth his desire to move up in the weight class. Even though he had yet to fight big names in the LW division, like Justin Gaethje, he claimed that he was done with the division with no one left to fight. 

The former mixed martial artist, Chael Sonnen, once revealed that Makhachev versus Edwards matchup might be pretty difficult to materialize. He claimed that the MMA promotion simply did not like a championship belt to lay vacant. Hence, the 32-year-old going to 170 lbs seemed like a problem to Sonnen. “The big problem with Islam going from 55 to 70 is now you leave 55 and if he wins at 70 he never returns to 55,” he said. But the future is still uncertain.

Do you think Makhachev would get a fight against Muhammad or Edwards? If not, who do you think would get the chance to face the formidable lightweight champion? Let us know in the comments down below.