ISLAM MAKHACHEV received an emotional FaceTime call from his former coach and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov after beating Alexander Volkanosvki at UFC 284.
The Dagestani destroyer survived a late knockdown in the fifth round to retain his lightweight title and become the sport’s pound-for-pound king in Perth, Australia.
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Makhachev was overcome with emotion after extending his streak to 12 wins in a row, but even more so when Nurmagomedov ran him backstage.
Footage backstage captured the pair speaking in Russian on FaceTime, but Nurmagomedov could be heard saying “pound-for-pound king” in English.
Makhachev, 31, revealed details of their conversation in the post-fight press conference.
He said: “He was so nervous. And he say, ‘Hey, why don’t you do, this, this and this?’
“And I said, ‘Hey, if you came to [Perth] and you were in my corner I can do this.’
“‘But you didn’t come.'”
Nurmagomedov paid tribute to Makhachev on Instagram, writing: “Simply the best.
“Proved it in a hard, competitive fight against the best active fighter on the planet.
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“There is always something to work on.
“But this story will remain for a long time in this sport.
Just have a flashback on your memory of who topped the best regardless of weight category from Eurasia in the history of MMA, there were only a couple of fighters and Islam was already on that list.”
Makhachev’s victory on enemy territory saw him rip top spot in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings from Volkanovski’s clutches.
And the Russian relished that fact as he listened to a tirade of boos from the passionate Perth punters.
In his post-fight interview, he said: “You like or you don’t like, I am best [the] fighter in the world right now!”
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A dejected Volkanovski, meanwhile, lamented his failure to capitalise on the success he had stifling the lightweight king’s wrestling.
He said: “I was expecting to win.
“I knew he was really good and I just knew I prepared properly.
“But hey, it was a fun maybe.
“Maybe I could’ve capitalised on some positions a bit more. I left it a little bit later.
“But hey, Congrats to Islam. Great fighter. Maybe we’ll settle pound for pound No. 1 again.”
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