Islam Makhachev has confessed that capturing the second UFC title in 2025 did not feel as special as winning the first in 2022.
Makhachev won the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 280 in 2022 after dropping Charles Oliveira with a right hook and then submitting the latter with an arm-triangle choke in Round 2.
After wrapping the lightweight belt around his waist for the first time, he immediately handed the strap to his longtime friend Khabib Nurmagomedov. He also credited the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and Khabib for shaping him into a champion.
After four successful lightweight title defenses, Islam Makhachev, in 2025, vacated his 155-pound championship to move up and chase a second UFC belt.
He made his welterweight debut at UFC 322 and dominantly dethroned Jack Della Maddalena to become the new UFC welterweight champion, a two-division champion, and also the pound-for-pound king.
However, that night at UFC 322, even though he attained two-division glory, Islam Makhachev says he cannot compare that feeling to the one at UFC 280, where he won a UFC title for the first time.
Islam Makhachev: “The first belt is the biggest thing for my life”
In a recent interview with Arena Fight TV, Islam Makhachev opened up about how, at UFC 280, he laid all his years of hard work and sacrifice on the table to become a UFC champion. Because of that, the feeling of winning that night remains irreplaceable.
He said:
For 15-20 years every day in the gym, no breaks, no family, no friends, not going anywhere. Discipline. That’s why I cannot lose. I just put on the table everything I had that night, you know. I remember the emotion I had when [Charles Oliveira] tapped. It’s crazy.”
He added:
It’s the moment when you understand well done. Everything is finished. How many years did you spend doing everything right to become a UFC champion? It’s there. It’s the moment. It’s the emotion that I think I never felt before, and I am never going to feel again.”
Lastly, Islam Makhachev added:
When I become double champ, same thing. It’s not the same. The first belt is the biggest thing for my life.”
Check out Islam Makhachev’s comments below:
The P4P king will make the first defense of his welterweight championship after Ramadan. Meanwhile, he has also shown interest in being a part of the White House card and is open to locking horns with UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria.
