Islam Makhachev, after a somewhat rocky start, submitted Renato Moicano at their UFC 311 clash in the very first round. And the lightweight champ rightfully took a shot at Arman Tsarukyan after the fight. Tsarukyan, of course, was originally supposed to take on the Dagestani at the Inglewood, California card, but pulled out at the last minute due to a back injury. “This camp was so hard. Someone [Tsarukyan] was lucky because he [was] not here,” the champ said with some well-earned sass after the fight.

Since the Armenian #1 ranked lightweight pulled out, history tells us that he probably won’t get the title shot right away. Then who will be Makhachev’s next opponent? Well, at the moment there seems to be one clear front-runner: former champ Charles Oliveira. And ‘Do Bronx’ knows it.

“It was a great fight. He’s the champion. He did what he had to do. But I’m next and he knows that. The lightweight champ is called Charles Oliveira. I’m ready for that,” Oliveira said in his native Portuguese after UFC 311.

Oliveira, of course, was in the same situation Arman Tsarukyan is in right now. The Brazilian former champion was set to rematch Makhachev at UFC 294 in October 2023 but had to pull out shortly before the fight due to an injury. Charles Oliveira lost his position in the division because of it and had to fight Tsarukyan in a #1 contender bout last year. And that is why the Armenian will probably have to fight at least one other top contender before he gets considered for a title shot. Which raises the question – when will Makhachev get to fight a guy who actually deserves to fight for the title?

Why there is an asterisk against Islam Makhachev’s title defenses?

Islam Makhachev is rapidly making his way to the Mt. Rushmore of MMA. With his latest victory, the Dagestani champ is on a fifteen-fight consecutive win streak, one short of Anderson Silva’s record of sixteen. In addition, he has made four successful title defenses, the most in the history of the promotion.

On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that only two of Makhachev’s title defenses have come against fellow lightweights. In addition, most would say that even his two title defenses against 155-pounders have come against guys who didn’t deserve to fight for the title.

At UFC 302 last year, Makhachev submitted the legendary Dustin Poirier (with a D’Arce choke which is how he beat Moicano). But the only reason ‘Diamond’ fought for the title last year was because there literally were no other top-ranked guys available at the moment. This time around, too, Makhachev had to make do with the #10 ranked Moicano since #1 ranked Tsarukyan pulled out.

While the champ dealt with Moicano in pretty short order, as a champ should, there is an asterisk against his latest win even if by no fault of the Dagestani. What do you think about Charles Oliveira’s comments after UFC 311?