Islam Makhachev: 'I'm not going to leave this sport without a second UFC belt'

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev insists on his goal of becoming dual-champion.

Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) defends his lightweight title in a rematch against Arman Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC), which headlines Saturday’s UFC 311 event (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+) at Intuit Dome.

Standing in Makhachev’s way of winning a second UFC title is welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, who has trained with Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team on numerous occasions.

So how far away is Makhachev from his pursuit? The lightweight champion isn’t sure, but knows it’s something he needs to achieve in his career.

“I don’t know. It’s not my job, but it’s my goal,” Makhachev told TNT Sports. “I’m not going to leave this sport without a second belt. This is my goal.”

Muhammad told MMA Junkie he thinks Makhachev could jump up to middleweight and win a second belt there, but didn’t rule out the possibility of potentially doing that himself if he can notch a couple more title defenses.

Makhachev isn’t interested in fighting Muhammad, either.

“He is my friend,” Makhachev said of Muhammad. “We were training last week together. We have the (same) manager. Yeah, we will talk. Anything can change very quick. That’s why I am not planning to retire. I have time.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.