JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Kevin Holland believes Islam Makhachev would change into UFC welterweight champion if he moved up a division.
Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) defends his light-weight title towards Dustin Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 302 (pay-per-view/ESPN2/ESPN+) foremost occasion at Prudential Heart in Newark, N.J.
Makhachev has reiterated his need to chase dual-champion standing, and Holland charges his probabilities very extremely.
“Champ, champ, champ for certain, for certain,” Holland informed reporters, together with MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC 302 media day. “I believe Khabib (Nurmagomedov) might have completed the identical f*cking factor if he needed to. So, yeah, for certain, for certain.
“I believe Islam’s most likely a bit of bit scarier to cope with. He knocked out Volk, and I don’t assume Volk’s a straightforward particular person to place away, regardless that he simply misplaced the final two being put away. I believe plenty of that got here from the Islam head kick. Yeah, scary, scary man proper there.”
Holland (25-11 MMA, 12-8 UFC), who takes on Michal Oleksiejczuk (19-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) in a middleweight bout on the principle card of UFC 302, doesn’t see Makhachev combating measurement at welterweight.
“I believe the way in which these guys grapple over there, I don’t assume it could matter in case you are a heavyweight,” Holland stated. “Once they resolve to get you down, they’re going to get you down. They’re persistent, they work laborious, they usually’re actually, actually good at what they do. And I actually suck at wrestling, so I wouldn’t need no issues with that man. I understand how to choose my fights. My momma taught me nicely.”
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