Touted by American Kickboxing Academy training partners Khabib
Nurmagomedov and Daniel
Cormier as the future king of UFC lightweight division,
Islam
Makhachev has only one loss among his 21 professional
fights.
Adriano
Martins, the man who defeated Makhachev via TKO at UFC 192 some
six years ago, recently accepted an invitation from Chute Boxe
leader Diego Lima to join the camp of lightweight champ Charles
Oliveira after two years training at American Top Team.
Makhachev sees Rafael dos
Anjos as an opponent who is capable of derailing the Makhachev
hype train when they square off at UFC 267.
“I fought [Rustam] Khabilov and Makhachev in consecutive
fights,” said Martins, who defeated Khabilov by split decision at
UFC Fight Night 81. “My camps were based on not allowing them to
corner me and, if it happened, using my striking and judo to
not let them be comfortable. I believe dos Anjos is a very smart
guy who has weapons to neutralize Islam. Pressure and judo are good
keys to beating Makhachev.”
If Makhachev does defeat dos Anjos, it could set the Dagestani up
for a future title shot. If Oliveira is booked against Makhachev in
the near future, Martins plans to make himself available to help
prepare the champ for the bout.
“I didn’t meet ‘Do Bronx’ in Sao Paulo, but I´m a big fan of
him as a fighter and as a person and I hope to be able to
help with his future title defense,” Martins said.
Martins was released from the UFC in 2017 on the heels of
back-to-back losses to Leonardo
Santos and Kajan Johnso. Now 38 years old, the Brazilian hopes
for a chance to compete in Professional Fighters League in a future
season.
“I trained a lot with Natan [Schulte, Raush [Manfio], two amazing
human beings that deserve every cent they are earning. It would be
a dream for me, after 19 years of dedication to the sport, fighting
the toughest guys out there to finish my career in PFL and I hope I
can make this dream come true,” Martins said.