UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev has suggested that his mother wants him to consider retiring from mixed martial arts.
As we know, Khabib Nurmagomedov famously promised his mother once upon a time that he would retire and stay retired from mixed martial arts. After he left, Charles Oliveira was the man who ascended to the top of the division, before Islam Makhachev came to town and made his presence known at 155 pounds.
From there, Islam Makhachev decided to make the jump up to welterweight, where he managed to become a two-weight world champion. Given what he has achieved in the sport, many are wondering how much longer he has left before he opts to ride off into the sunset, in a similar manner to Khabib.
In a recent interview, Islam Makhachev made it known that his mother may not be a big fan of him carrying on down this path for too much longer.
Islam Makhachev discusses his mother
“This has been a conversation with my mom for many years now. I remember when I won the Combat Sambo World Championship, before I had even started my professional career. My mom said, ‘That’s it. There’s no Olympics in sambo, you’ve already won a world title — that’s enough.’
“Since then, we’ve kept coming back to this topic. Lately, she’s been telling me, ‘Khabib listened to his mother, but you don’t want to listen.’
“I tell her that she never put the question that way. She never said, ‘Either you stop, or…’
“Recently, she told me, ‘I want to meet Khabib. We need to talk.’ I asked, ‘What do you need to talk to him about?’ She said, ‘We just need to talk.’
“I haven’t arranged that meeting yet. But if my mom ever truly puts her foot down and insists, then of course…”
Islam has nothing left to prove in mixed martial arts, but if he can get through Ian Machado Garry, you would have to think a meeting with Ilia Topuria could be on the cards at some point down the road – if he defeats Justin Gaethje, that is.
