During the UFC 302 post-fight presser, Dana White gave a verdict when it came to Islam Makhachev being at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings. Even when he won against Dustin Poirier with an amazing performance for the five rounds, White declared Jon Jones the best pound-for-pound fighter. However, Makhachev’s team thinks otherwise.

His Dagestani friend and coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is a retired champ and Hall of Famer, gave his strict verdict on Makhachev’s prowess.

Khabib Nurmagomedov says that Islam Makhachev is the best

Recently, a fan page uploaded a heartfelt picture of Usman Nurmagomedov hugging Makhachev after the fight, and Khabib shared the picture of his two-star pupils in his Instagram story. He also had to say something about the latest verdict by Dana White, and the champion did not hold back. He said, “Best lightweight in the world; some may not like it, but the facts speak for themselves.”

Khabib has always cheered for his protegee student and said that his training and stance were on point. He even gave Makahchev tips and tricks on combating Poirier’s famous Guillotine choke. Since the retired champ has faced Poirier before, he could help Makhachev in every way possible and was even present at the corner after a long gap of two years.

After the fight, Khabib even said that his pupil “grew a lot,” and he declared that Makhachev went deep into the highest potential that he could pull off inside the octagon. The lightweight GOAT was a proud coach and even met Poirier backstage since he had fought ‘The Diamond’ in UFC 242.

He wanted to check and make sure Poirier was alright, and he gave his respects to the fighter. Meanwhile, Makhahchev now sits at the top of the game and is getting all the support from his coaches and teammates.

Islam Makhachev finds support in his team

In a recent interview with Red Corner MMA, Javier Mendez supported the UFC lightweight champ and said that Makhachev deserved to get the pound-for-pound throne since he trained and struggled for that position. According to the coach, Makhachev showed an amazing performance in his fights.

He said, “Well, I wasn’t there when Khabib talked to Islam after the fight. So, I’m assuming he told him that was a great fight. You, you know. ‘You have to go through adversity to win this fight, and I’m very proud of you, brother,’ you know. Now you can learn from this. You get a lot of knowledge from this type of fight. And that’s exactly what Islam got. He got a lot of knowledge from this fight.” 

The AKA coach said that Makahchev proved his mettle as the best champion in his weight class, and Mendez was impressed by his performance in UFC 302. Dana White was against the P4P rankings and said Jon Jones was the No. 1 fighter, but Mendez was a Makhachev supporter through and through. Even Khabib said that his star pupil showed his greatest potential.

Makahchev has a 14-win streak now, while ‘Bones’ has 13; however, Jones has never lost a fight in his entire career in the UFC. However, Makhachev now needs just one successful title fight to break records. Who do you think is the best P4P fighter? Jones, or Makhachev?