Islam Makhachev begins camp after Khabib Nurmagomedov accidentally reveals next opponent

Follow us on Google Discover

Islam Makhachev’s time off is over, and he’s now back in camp preparing for a fight that was recently revealed by Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Khabib has confirmed that Makhachev will headline at Madison Square Garden this year, challenging Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title. Makhachev vacated his lightweight belt, which Ilia Topuria won against Charles Oliveira.

‘The Eagle’ also mentioned another upcoming bout, saying that his cousin Usman Nurmagomedov will face Paul Hughes again when the PFL returns to Dubai in October.

Islam Makhachev starts preparation for fight against Jack Della Maddalena

Islam Makhachev recently wrapped up a holiday, sharing the final moments on Instagram with clips of horse riding and time spent with teammates at a ranch.

The post was captioned: “Finished the vacation with a horse ride. Let’s work.” If he begins training this week, he’ll have nearly three months to prepare for his bout against Jack Della Maddalena.

This came just hours after Khabib had already let slip details of the fight during a Q&A in New York, saying: “This is his deal with UFC, I have no deal with UFC, this is his problem. But we have deal with UFC that he is going to fight in Madison Square Garden.”

• READ MORE: Reinier de Ridder chooses the easier matchup between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev

Islam Makhachev faces challenges bulking up for welterweight title bout

Makhachev has never had major issues making 155lb during his career – a contrast to Nurmagomedov, who struggled at times – but moving up to 170lb hasn’t been as straightforward as expected.

Makhachev spoke with MMA Junkie earlier this year about the challenge and said: “I will try to be big and you know, it’s not easy man. All my life I cut weight but now, when I want to be big, my weight stays in the same position. I try to lift more.”

He added: “We do some program and like slowly, slowly we bring some, maybe 2kg [roughly 4.4lb] right now and it’s very hard but I don’t want to be big by food, eating and not training. I want to be with muscles you know, I want to do training, a right lifting program and bring some muscles.”