While many in the MMA world have offered explanations for Alex Pereira's loss to Magomed Ankalaev in their first fight, Islam Makhachev is not buying any of them.
Following Pereira's loss at UFC 313, the prevailing narrative was that 'Poatan' entered the fight still dealing with lingering effects of a norovirus infection and a broken hand, a theory even the likes of Joe Rogan reported.
And after the Brazilian knocked out the Dagestani in the first round of UFC 320 to reclaim the light heavyweight title, that narrative has only gained more traction.
Nevertheless, neither Islam Makhachev nor his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, who also manages Ankalaev, is convinced by this excuse. As the pair sees it, almost every fighter enters the cage carrying some form of injury, so it doesn't qualify as a valid justification for a loss.
During a recent live stream with Adin Ross, Abdelaziz said:
"Everybody is hurt, nobody is 100%."
Soon after Makhachev chimed in, dismissing the justification for Pereira's loss to his fellow Russian, saying:
"Just lose or win, you know. After like one year, nobody cares what happened, [whether] you were injured or sick or something happened. It's your opinion, you fight, or not fight."
Check out Islam Makhachev's comments about Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev 1 below:
Makhachev will next be seen this weekend at UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden in New York, where he'll take on reigning champion Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title.
According to BetOnline, Makhachev is a -250 favorite for the fight, with the champion as a +210 underdog.
Islam Makhachev's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, has such faith in his client that he once told MMA Junkie that he believes Makhachev can dethrone the reigning light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira.
Despite Abdelziz's bold claims, at the UFC 311 post-fight presser, the former pound-for-pound king remained humble and offered a hilarious answer to why fighting 'Poatan' may be too much of a herculean task for him:
"[Fighting Pereira at 205 pounds] it's too much. I need the 'DC' [Daniel Cormier] diet programme to be 200 pounds."