(Video) UFC Superstar Islam Makhachev’s Mountain Bike Adventure Faces Major Hurdle

In a new video, recent UFC 170-pound entrant Islam Makhachev gets his Husqvarna dirt-bike stuck uphill.

(Video) UFC Superstar Islam Makhachev’s Mountain Bike Adventure Faces Major Hurdle

Islam Makhachev gets dirtbike stuck in new footage (Source: X)

Not a lot of things are seemingly going Islam Makhachev’s way until he makes his next UFC 170-pound title fight. The former longtime UFC 155-pound kingpin made waves with a historic 15-fight streak. But Makhachev recently had to give up his belt in favor of a welterweight move-up. The unintentionally funny Dagestani was seemingly up to his own ways and his slice of fun. That is, until his dirt bike got stuck in, majorly, on a steep climb up!

Longtime UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev is the second such entity, infamous for his two-wheeler antics. But unlike middleweight Sean Strickland, he trades in wheelies for hill and gorge climbs on bikes.

A recent footage (🎥: @RedCorner_MMA) shows Makhachev, clad in white camo and snowy-white sleeves, trying to push a dirt bike, a probable whited-out Husqvarna FE 350 Pro 2024, up the hill. He got stuck on the ascent for a very long, hot minute.

However, the Dagestani powered through the steep climb and whooshed past; a testament to the 350cc displacement 4-stroke engine. But also to the man himself, ready and gunning for a weight class shift for a long time. Only this week, rival Ilia Topuria uploaded a track running video, looking buff like a tank, before his shift up to 155 pounds. Makhachev had to answer in kind, steeping hills with machines.

He’d need it too, given that many 170-pound top contenders are ready to pave their own paths through him (and that Makhachev is prone to his dirt bikes getting stuck uphill). He could be in for one tough game at welterweight. A move that some are not entirely in favor of.

Islam Makhachev’s move to relinquish title belt questioned by rival who wanted to face him for long

Amid topsy-turvy logistics and great odds, Islam Makhachev gave up his 155-pound gold to pursue a second UFC championship belt. While the convoluted UFC lightweight class is clogged over the top with rightful contenders stacking wins, some just stood out. Some just made quite the case to be the 155-pound top seed for gold.

Islam Makhachev catches heat from UFC lightweight rival for vacating gold
Islam Makhachev catches heat from UFC lightweight rival for vacating gold (Source: X)

With Islam Makhachev saying he won’t fight another featherweight name, Topuria, many made their case to work up to gold. Some like Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, and recently Justin Gaethje, even did. One #top-15-ranked rising name fast approaching contender status (he is #8 since then) was Paddy Pimblett, and he, too, called out Makhachev.

Pimblett delivered a SOTY-worthy finish to crack #top-15 and maintained that he can match up to that Degestani Sambo and pace. Following news of the Russian fighter’s vacating gold, he weighed in on UFC’s double standards regarding Jon Jones still keeping his. In the same interview with Adam Catterall for UFC on TNT Sports, Pimblett critiqued what Makhachev should have done different.

I would’ve beaten Topuria and then fought Jack Della Maddalena like four months later... Because Islam will probably want to headline the Abu Dhabi card...If he smokes Topuria like he smoked Moicano...and some of the others in the first round he’d be good to go in October. If I was Islam, I would’ve done that...[Yeah...Surprised] but I can see where he’s coming from…

‘Baddy’ battered brand contender Michael Chandler recently en route to a third-round TKO. Before that, he ran through perennial names and longstays like King Green and Tony Ferguson. There was some debate about not matching up to prospects in his age group, but Chandler is explosively good and getting through him was to be a good propel.

At most, he is just one fight away from cementing his status as a legit lightweight contender for gold. However, with Makhachev possibly fighting for welterweight gold later this year, a PPV title scrapper vs. Pimblett seems far off now.

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