P4P #1 ranked Islam Makhachev is currently the best fighter in the UFC. He is also champion of arguably the most stacked division of the promotion – the lightweight division. Sounds familiar. That’s because the Dagestani is continuing Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s legacy of dominance in the promotion. The AKA team member has won all but one of his professional MMA fights, unlike the undefeated ‘Eagle.’ But is that all the 32-year-old shares with Khabib?

Makhachev, like his friend and mentor Khabib, is an excellent grappler and a combat Sambo world champion. Makhachev has credited a large part of his success to the lessons he learned as a young boy in the sparse mountainous landscapes of Dagestan, especially from his parents. And that will be our topic of discussion today – Makhachev’s parents.

All we know about Islam Makhachev’s mother, father, and siblings

Islam Makhachev learned his legendary work ethic and the value of hard work from his parents as a young child, but not much is known about them. The Dagestani would recount his first experiences of carrying heavy boxes of vegetables for his father, who used to grow tomatoes, as his first experience working.

His mother, on the other hand, is a homemaker and looked after her kids and family, along with running a local cafe to supplement her husband’s income. Interestingly, the Dagestani has revealed that while his mother is opposed to his fighting career as she fears for her son’s safety, his father is a big supporter and watches all of his fights. In addition, the lightweight champion has an older brother, Kurbanismail Makhachev.

Are Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov related?

Islam Makhachev is proving to be the true successor to Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC. The dynamic duo have been very good friends since their days of running around the streets of their town, getting into fights as young teens in the rugged landscapes of Dagestan. Both trained under Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and were with each other throughout their martial arts journey until ‘The Eagle’s retirement.

While the two are not related, their bond is like brothers, with Khabib’s father considering him a son. The two had virtually been inseparable since their childhood, playing together and training under Abdulmanap until Khabib retired and eventually gave up coaching last year.

When the UFC LW Champion talked about his parents

Islam Makhachev defeated Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 to become the lightweight champion, two years after Khabib had retired at UFC 254 and vacated his title. Since then, the 32-year-old has defended his title twice and will defend it for the third time at UFC 302 on June 1 against Dustin Poirier. Surprisingly, this would be his first title defense against a fellow lightweight, as he has only defended against Alexander Volkanovski, the featherweight champion, who moved up to fight the Dagestani twice.

And it turns out, just like Khabib’s mother, his mother, too doesn’t want her son to continue fighting and tried to talk him into retirement after he became champion.

“My mother doesn’t watch fights, not just my fights – fights in general. She doesn’t like seeing people hit each other. When I came home there were a lot of people there. [My mother] said, ‘You’re a champion now. Wrap it up. Khabib listened to his mother. When will you listen to yours?'” he said.

However, since his father “is more powerful” as far as his family dynamics go, and is on board with his MMA career, he is determined to continue his martial arts journey. And his father will certainly be watching with fingers crossed as Makhachev takes on ‘Diamond’ at UFC 302 next month.