“He NEEDS Conor McGregor…” Islam Makhachev advised to fight big superstars by teammate and legend Daniel Cormier

UFC 302 on June 1 has added a key prospect to stir up the convoluted lightweight title contention picture. Lightweight king Islam Makhachev finally defends his title strap against a top-ranking peer – Dustin Poirier. The Dagestani champ garners a lot of flak for not defending against bigger names. Hence, close friend Daniel Cormier offers the biggest of all names – Conor McGregor.

Conor McGregor dominated Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 to become a lightweight champ. He headlines a five-round welterweight scrap at UFC 303 on June 29. The former two-division champ has fought at 170 pounds once before. Now, with American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) coach Javier Mendez nudging Makhachev’s move to 170, Daniel Cormier pitched in.

Makhachev needs the names.. He needed to beat Charles Oliveira. because that is a name people recognized... To become the champion...He needs to fight Conor McGregor or Michael Chandler, because those are the names. He needs those names to push himself up to the next level...He needs to fight Dustin Poirier...[names] that will push him up to the next level...

Daniel Cormier via his Official YouTube channel (@DC_MMA)

Instead of giving repeated chances to 145lbers, Islam Makhachev has named Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards as a dream fight at welterweight. Justin Gaethje remains his dream fight at 155 pounds; but with ‘The Highlight’ suffering a KO in his last lightweight BMF title fight, he is out of the picture. Hence, ‘DC’ promotes ‘The Notorious’ as a good option for the Dagestani.

Consequently, McGregor would be an interesting premise; he has already fought at 155. Now he moves on to welterweight yet again. If nothing else, fighting the verifiable superstar with most PPV buyouts is a draw in itself. Mcgregor’s rivalry with his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, already produced the 2nd best live gate buyouts (UFC 229). So this build-up could prove interesting.

Despite grand plans, Michael Bisping advises Islam Makhachev to focus on his own division

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has made his intentions well-known to move up to welterweight. Fighting at UFC 284 and UFC 294, he indulged Alexander Volkanovski in shooting for his belt with two-division glory aspirations. Now, Makhachev considers it his time to do the same.

To that end, close friend and sparring buddy Daniel Cormier advised him of names like Conor McGregor and even Michael Chandler. The duo face off in a welterweight bout at UFC 303, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+), at McGregor’s return fight. Michael Bisping has almost the same view as Cormier. Bisping wants Makhachev to focus on the same division rather than move up in weight.

He wants a shot to become the two-weight division champion just like he offered Volkanovski, But be careful what you wish for because Leon Edwards, right – Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards is an absolute sniper in there. And look at what he just did to Colby Covington.

Michael Bisping via his Official YouTube channel (@bisping)

Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) was offered Leon Edwards for UFC 300, but he did not want to train while observing Ramadan. However, the fighter does aspire to hash it out with ‘Rocky.’ Consequently, Bisping advises him against it, telling him to focus on lightweight for the moment. Edwards’ head-kick KO title win against former champ & P4P king Kamaru Usman had similarly come out of the blue. Hence, Bisping cautions Makhachev against welterweight king if and when they ever meet in the octagon.

In case you missed it:

• Stars aligning for a Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier 4
• “I’m right here bro!’ Dustin Poirier hilariously recalls ‘funeral’ after Justin Gaethje head kick KO loss

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