UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, ranked first in the weight class, has important fight night championship on Saturday ahead. The fight on paper of the evening will be held at the stunning Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, where Islam Makhachev will fight a rising top contender Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311. It makes sense that these two orthodox 155-pound favorites last fought at this level in 2019 when Makhachev was victorious in a unanimous decision. It has been made after Tsarukyan secured a well-deserved shot at UFC gold in the first major PPV event of the year, the man having built an outstanding 9-1 record since that face off.

Not that it was going to be easy as Makhachev knew that Tsarukyan had improved his physical strength and general technical performance. It is clear from the words of the champion that he has a lot of respect for his opponent’s progress and what fans of fights may wait for on Saturday night.

"Yeah, of course he's improved. He's become like grown up, become a man. You know now he's older and he’s improved a lot. But his style is the same, always. He tries to take down people. He’s good on that. That's why he's a No. 1 contender," Makhachev said.

Makhachev made it plain that he plans to finish Tsarukyan with authority by making a bold prediction for the forthcoming fight.  "For sure, any small chance I will finish him [in the] first round, second, third, but I think it's gonna be under three rounds. I will finish him. I will look always, all my fights, if I have a small chance, I finish people. But this fight I have more motivation to finish him because last fight distance and like people say, Arman good fights. But this time I want to finish all questions," Makhachev said, with conviction mixed with humility.

From the remarks of the champion one can be pardoned for getting the feeling that he is willing, able and willing to grab every chance and ensure that come Saturday the fight will be a turning point for him.

Stating the records of extreme dominance the lightweight champion aims to make history and become the first boxer in the division that defend the championship four times. If he did so, he would even go higher than what was being offered to legends like B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar, that locks him in as one of the all time great MMA fighters. Makhachev needs to win this war, but he also wants to be remembered as one of the best that has ever done it.

Makhachev accepts that new contenders are scarce in the lightweight division but could not care less about Tsarukyan. He said after the fight he will reveal his plans for the future to his coaches – Javier Mendez and Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Dagestani fighters are still dominating the UFC and one more representative of this nation, Umar Nurmagomedov, will be fighting for the bantamweight title at UFC 311.

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