For a brief period, it appeared that Islam
Makhachev would be the one to step in against Rafael dos
Anjos on short notice at
UFC 272.
According to UFC president Dana White, a deal was almost done for
the bout before Makhachev ultimately elected to turn it down.
“Pretty close – I thought we had it done,” White told Barstool Sports
in a recent interview. “When I went to bed one of the nights, I
thought it was done. Woke up the next morning and found out they
turned it down. Islam [turned it down]. No clue [why].”
Instead, former featherweight contender Renato Moicano agreed to
face dos Anjos in a five-round, co-main event bout on Saturday at
the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“The best fight that we could possibly make would have been him and
Islam. RDA and Islam,” White said. “Islam turns down the fight.
What’s the [next] best fight you can make? [Renato] Moicano.”
Makhachev is coming off a first-round TKO of Bobby Green
at UFC Fight Night 202 last weekend. While there was a growing
sentiment that Makhachev would be next in line to face the winner
of the lightweight championship clash between Charles
Oliveira and Justin
Gaethje at UFC 274, it now appears that the Dagestani standout
will be rebooked against Beneil
Dariush at a later date. Makhachev was supposed to face Dariush
in the UFC Fight Night 202 main event before his opponent suffered
a last-minute injury.
“He’s [Makhachev] obviously doing very well,”White said. “I love
the Dariush fight. Since he turned down this fight, we’re going to
remake the Dariush fight. We’ll get that fight going. Dying to see
that fight. He gets through Dariush, very interesting.”