At UFC 311 on January 18, Islam Makhachev faces his toughest challenge since becoming champion. After all, his opponent, Arman Tsarukyan is a world-class wrestler himself and promises to be a tough matchup for the Dagestani lightweight champ. Especially since he has the power to put Makhachev to sleep with one hard punch.

But what some fans may not be aware of is that this would be their second UFC encounter. The duo fought back in 2019 in Tsarukyan’s UFC debut, where Makhachev, who was still an up-and-comer, won a comprehensive unanimous decision. But that was a long time ago and the two men have improved and evolved a lot. Just how much?

Well, Makhachev’s AKA gym coach, Javier Mendez thinks the Dagestani hasn’t improved a whole lot, but for a very good reason. “They’ve [the Dagestani guys have] always improved. Islam improved the least amount out of all of them, but he was already, you know, come on, he’s pound-for-pound number one, so how much more is he going to improve?” Mendez asked rhetorically on his official YouTube channel.

“He’s not going to improve a tremendous amount,” the coach said, answering his own question. “He’s going to improve a little bit and he has improved a little bit in every area, you know. Islam’s smarter, you know, in better shape, just everything about him is improved, so you know he’s on point.” 

Indeed, Makhachev was a pretty well-developed prospect (at least as far as his wrestling was concerned) when he came to AKA. After all, Makhachev was already an accomplished combat sambo fighter and had developed a very solid ground game under Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s father, Abdulmanap.

However, Makhachev has improved his striking leaps and bounds since his early days in the UFC. And this in turn has been possible because of the AKA head honcho. But the coach is in for a very long night at UFC 311, where his camp could walk away with a new UFC championship, or lose the one it currently holds.

Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov to fight back to back at UFC 311

Islam Makhachev, of course, will try to defend his title for a record fourth time in the UFC 311 main event. And in the co-main event, his teammate and Khabib’s cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov will try to become a UFC champion against 135-pound king, Merab Dvalishvili.

This means that Javier Mendez and Khabib would have to corner two fights back-to-back without much rest. This is a tall order. After all, cornering a fighter, especially when the stakes are UFC championship-high, is pretty draining because of the mental toll it takes on people. Not to mention the tough stylistic matchup both Makhachev and Umar are facing.

Another point worth noting is that another Dagestani from the AKA gym, Tagir Ulanbekov is also fighting at UFC 311, albeit on the undercard. This means that January 18 will be a huge night for the AKA gym, and probably the toughest, most nerve-wracking night Mendez has had in a very long time. What do you think about Javier Mendez’s revelations about the improvements Islam Makhachev has made?