Islam Makhachev has revealed his next fight will be “one of the last” of his career, and he wants it to be against the best of the two welterweights fighting for the interim title.
The UFC welterweight champion posted the statement on X on Friday, US time, as MMA Junkie reported, with ESPN also carrying the comments.
“My next fight is one of the last in my career,” Makhachev wrote. “They say Prates is too dangerous for me and Morales is too good for me. So I want to face the best of them and prove to the world once again who is the best in world.”
Interim title fight sets up his return
Carlos Prates and Michael Morales will meet for the interim welterweight title at UFC 336 in Toronto on 30 January (US time) after Makhachev declined to fight in January. UFC CEO Dana White said the champion did not want to fight until after Ramadan, ESPN reported, which pushes his return to at least May.
“Islam, on average, fights once a year,” White said at the time. “He was slated for January and then said, ‘I don’t want to fight until after Ramadan.’ You can’t hold up divisions like this.”
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Prates (24-7) has won all seven of his UFC fights by knockout, including wins over former champions Jack Della Maddalena and Leon Edwards. Morales is unbeaten at 19-0.
A change of tune
Makhachev, 35, is 29-1 and recorded his first welterweight title defence with a unanimous decision over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in August.
Before that fight, he told MMA Junkie that retirement talk was unfounded. “Somebody put the fake news I’m gonna retire after this fight,” he said. “No, it’s not true. I want to keep going, you know?”
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His latest comments suggest the former lightweight champion could follow his close friend and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov into retirement sooner than expected, although he has not named a date.
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