Islam Makhachev has no interest in joining the growing trend of wrestlers and MMA fighters competing in grappling crossover events.
During a recent visit to his team’s training camp in Russia’s Elbrus region, the UFC champion was asked whether he had received offers to compete in wrestling or grappling matches outside of MMA:
No. Why? I have enough to do. I have enough money. Enough matches, championship ones.
I don’t have time to get distracted by wrestling, grappling, or matches.
Makhachev explained that the risk simply outweighs the reward at this stage of his career:
Because you could get injured and then sit out for half a year with nothing.
I have time to compete, prepare, take care of family matters. If I competed in wrestling too, I’d have to prepare, go through camps again, travel again…
So I have no desire to get distracted.
Interestingly, his teammate Abubakar Nurmagomedov was more receptive to the idea when asked the same question:
To be honest, I’ve received plenty of offers, but you need the desire too. It’s starting to come back little by little. We’ll see.
I’d like to test myself against contenders with a freestyle wrestling background. For example, guys like Ben Askren.
What’s the point of wrestling people who never trained freestyle wrestling?
Islam Makhachev has confirmed he’s been receiving offers to compete in wrestling and grappling matches, but says he has no interest in stepping away from MMA to pursue them, insisting his focus is already full with championship-level fights.
by
u/ColoradoRokkie in
bjjbeat
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