American fighter Rafael Dos Anjos does not believe that his Russian counterpart Islam Makhachev has a chance to become a double champion in the UFC. Makhachev, who has defended his lightweight title three times, has previously expressed interest in moving to welterweight to challenge Leon Edwards.
Dos Anjos, who has competed in both lightweight and welterweight throughout his career, thinks that Makhachev will struggle with the size difference in the higher weight class. Speaking to Submission Radio, Dos Anjos said, “Islam Makhachev has a very good momentum right now, but I don’t think he can beat Leon Edwards and become a double champion.”
“I just think it’s the size difference. Leon is a much bigger guy,” Dos Anjos explained. “We see smaller guys like Dustin Poirier giving Islam a lot of trouble. Poirier is very strong, but he usually fights at 145 pounds and he fought Islam hard. Islam choked him out in the fifth round, I believe. Poirier is a great fighter and I have a lot of respect for him. But if you look at all his title defenses, he got submitted.”
“I think Islam is very weak in this area or something like that; his submission defense is not on point. He always falls short in this aspect,” Dos Anjos continued.
The former lightweight champion Dos Anjos plans to return to 170 pounds after switching between weight classes in his past six fights. The American-Brazilian fighter has two specific names in mind for his next fight. “I see Stephen Thompson; he doesn’t have a fight coming up,” he said. “Kevin Holland also doesn’t have a fight coming up. Those are good names, you know, and that makes sense to me.”
