Islam Makhachev dishes details on sparring session with Leon Edwards: ‘He wasn’t a good wrestler’
Islam Makhachev is confident he can beat Leon Edwards.
On Saturday night, June 1, the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ will put his lightweight world title on the line in the UFC 302 main event against division fan favorite Dustin Poirier. Should Makhachev leave The Garden State with his title intact, he has his sights set on champ-champ status.
During an interview with UFC Hall of Famer and friend Daniel Cormier, Makhachev spoke about the possibility of stepping inside the Octagon with current welterweight champion Leon Edwards in a bid to add a second belt to his collection. During the conversation, Makhachev dished details on a sparring session that went down between himself and ‘Rocky.’
“I know I can be double champion.” Makhachev said. “I can beat Edwards. I’ve known his name from my first day in the U.S. I know him. No [he didn’t give my any problems], it was my first sparring session in the U.S. Now people understand [Cormier] lies. My first sparring session in the U.S. was Leon.”
He continued, “…I knew, I couldn’t lose first sparring in the cage. When time began, I went double-leg and took him down. But at that time, he wasn’t a good wrestler. He came to [AKA] to learn. Maybe right now he’s good at wrestling and can defend. But at that time, his big [struggle] was wrestling. I took him down, and I held him.”
Islam Makhachev was offered the chance to fight Leon Edwards at UFC 300
Islam Makhachev was offered the opportunity to challenge Leon Edwards for the 170-pound title in the UFC 300 headliner, but ultimately declined as the event went down just days after the conclusion of Ramadan.
“It’s not possible, man,” Makhachev told MMA Junkie when asked if the UFC proposed a fight against Edwards. “Because we have Ramadan now. One month with fasting, and it’s not possible to do training in Ramadan. It’s very hard. You have to fast when the sun rises, and all day you have to fast. … Training this time is very hard.”
Instead, Makhachev was paired up with Dustin Poirier for UFC 302 leaving Leon Edwards to tend to his division’s No. 1 ranked contender — Belal Muhammad.
Remember The Name’ will finally earn his shot as Edwards is set to put his gold on the line against Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester, England on July 27. It will be Edwards’ first defense since scoring a lopsided victory over Colby Covington at UFC 296 last December.
