Under normal circumstances, Islam Makhachev would be under a significant amount of pressure on Saturday. He’s a top-10 ranked lightweight on a seven-fight winning streak who has absorbed the fewest strikes per minute in UFC history at 0.77. He is a -700 favorite over Thiago Moises and competing in his first UFC main event.
However, Makhachev is not fighting under normal circumstances thanks to his association with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Khabib’s late father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
During an in-depth interview with ESPN, Nurmagomedov, who “officially” retired from the UFC in March, said that he and his father had not spoken about a specific retirement timeline for Khabib, but Abdulmanap had a framework in mind for his son and that included Makhachev.