Chael Sonnen questions the influence of Khabib in title shot of Islam Makhachev

Former UFC Star Chael Sonnen has some doubts regarding the legitimacy of the title shot that Islam Makhachev is set to get at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.

Makhachev is set to fight Charles Oliveira at the event for the vacant UFC Lightweight title and has expressed his confidence in winning the title. Speaking in the recent episode of Beyond the Fight, Sonnen questioned whether Makhachev would get the title shot if he was not related to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

"If Islam was named anything other than Islam Makhachev, would he be getting this shot? If Islam did not have the blessing as the heir apparent to the throne by king Khabib, would he be getting this shot?,” Sonnen noted (h/t Sportskeeda).

ALSO READ | Charles Oliveira feels that Islam is getting the easy route due to Khabib

However, in the same video, Sonnen proceeded to note that in most cases, the near-perfect record of Makhachev and his winning streak would be enough to justify his title shot at the UFC lightweight title.

Sometime back, Dan Hooker had also expressed a similar concern. Hooker, interestingly, is one of the few big names that Makhachev has defeated during his run towards the title.

Makhachev is currently 22-1 in his professional MMA career and is coming off a win against Bobby Green. Prior to this, he had defeated the likes of Dan Hooker, Thiago Moises, Drew Dober, Davi Ramos and Armen Tsarukyan.

ALSO READ | Islam Makhachev mocks the inability of Charles Oliveira to speak English

The Dagestani fighter is currently on an impressive 10-fight winning streak at the moment and his only loss came against Adriano Martins back in UFC 192. In that match, Makhachev suffered a first-round TKO loss and it was only his second fight in the UFC.

What do you think of the title shot that Islam Makhachev is getting? Let us know in the comments below.

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