Outside Source
Makhachev won the welterweight title with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 this past November. Morales (19-0) also emerged as a fresh contender on the same card with a brutal knockout win over Sean Brady.
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While other contenders like Carlos Prates and Ian Garry are also waiting in the wings, Makhachev wants to defend his title against former champion Kamaru Usman. However, Morales is also being considered a frontrunner for the next title shot against Makhachev. Morales is not buying into the air of invincibility around Makhachev. The undefeated Ecuadorian sees Makhachev as just another athlete who hurts and bleeds like he does. Morales just wants the title and is happy to have Makhachev keep his legacy.
‘He Can Have His Legacy’
“I don’t see Islam as a threat,” Morales told Hablemos MMA. “… He’s an athlete just like me, he’s a person just like me. He bleeds just like me. So all I want is to take the title. He can have his legacy, his history, but that’s his, not mine. What’s mine is mine. I’ve worked very hard for what I want. And I won’t give him that respect like, ‘Oh, you are the champion, all honors to you.’ No, I want to be champ. So I’m going to work very hard to take his title. I’m not going to idolize someone just because everyone else admires them.”
Makhachev (28-1) is likely a future UFC Hall of Famer with the legacy he has built. The Dagestani standout is on a 15-fight winning streak since his lone professional loss against Adriano Martins in his sophomore UFC outing in 2015. Makhachev defended his lightweight title four times, the most in the division’s history, before moving up to welterweight.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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