If Islam Makhachev beats RDA, he should fight for the title, says Ali Abdelaziz

03 August 2021

Islam Makhachev vs. Rafael Dos Anjos is all set to take place at UFC 267. The announcement was made by UFC today. The fight was scheduled to happen earlier but was postponed due to the pandemic.

Now that it is finally happening, the stakes are high. A former champion, Dos Anjos comes into the fight with a record of 30-13 to his name when Makhachev is 20-1 in his professional MMA career. Makhachev had recently secured a dominant win over Thiago Moises as well.

It will be a three-round fight between the two and speaking to ESPN, Dos Anjos said that he wanted to have a five-round fight.

"Islam doesn't want to fight five rounds. That was my request, but it didn't work out. So, fine. Let's do three then. He's been talking a lot of crap -- let's see who is who now. I'm ready to go. This is a title eliminator [in] my eyes,” he told.

Meanwhile, Ali Abdelaziz, who is the manager of Islam Makhachev noted that the winner should get a title shot.

"The UFC offered a three-round fight and Islam said yes. We don't care about the number of rounds -- it's no problem. The UFC asked for this, and this is what the UFC got. I'm looking at this as a No. 1 contender's match. The winner should fight for the title. If Islam wins, he should fight for the title next. And I'm predicting a finish by submission late in the second round or early in the third," Abdelaziz said to ESPN.

What do you think of the matchup? Let us know in the comment section of the article below.

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