Outside Source
Makhachev made his UFC debut as a highly touted, undefeated prospect from Khabib Nurmagomedov’s camp in 2015. Makhachev lived up to the hype with a second-round submission win over Leo Kuntz in his UFC debut. Makhachev closed as a slight favorite going into his sophomore UFC outing against Adriano Martins later that year. Makhachev was knocked out with a flush right hand by Martins less than two minutes into the fight. Makhachev knelt to the canvas and prayed to God as his opponent’s hands were raised.
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Makhachev says that just like he credits God for his wins, he also took the loss as a lesson from God. Training at the American Kickboxing Academy, which then had four UFC champions, Makhachev felt nearly invincible. Makhachev admits that he thought he could tire out his older opponent with mere pressure. While Makhachev learned his lesson the hard way, he believes he wouldn’t have scaled the heights that he has if not for that early loss.
Nobody Can Stop Me
“That time, maybe I was wrong,” Makhachev told Arena Fight TV. “I felt I could spar with everyone, I could fight everyone; nobody gonna stop me. Maybe at that time God showed me, ‘You’re not the best, you’re just beginner.’ But at that time I was thinking, I’m training with Khabib and all the champions in AKA — nobody can stop me. In my my mind, that fight, I was thinking that the guy is old, I’m gonna push him all fight, if I’m going to get tired, he’s going to get tired more. I didn’t have a plan for the fight, I just wanted to push him and make him tired. And in MMA, one punch can change everything. From that loss I turned into a completely different fighter. I am more smart now. Who knows, maybe if I didn’t lose that time, I would never become UFC champion.”
Makhachev was initially coached by Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who later brought the team over to AKA to train under Javier Mendez. Abdulmanap later revealed that there was a slight disagreement with Makhachev and Mendez going into the Martins fight. While Abdulmanap disagreed with Makhachev’s plan to showcase his striking against Martins, Mendez was backing him. Abdulmanap admitted that Makhachev’s loss was his biggest regret and vowed that his favorite fighter would become a UFC champion someday. Makhachev went on to become the UFC lightweight champion, defended his title four times, moved up and became the welterweight champion last year.
“Maybe at that time God showed me, ‘You’re not the best, you’re just beginning.'” – Islam Makhachev remembers his only MMA loss 🫡👏
“Maybe at that time I was wrong. I felt I could fight everyone; nobody could stop me. Maybe at that time God showed me, ‘You’re not the best,… pic.twitter.com/Tirnpjj9Pp
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) February 15, 2026
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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