Islam Makhachev has a massive night ahead of him. The 34-year-old is set to chase gold in a second weight class this Saturday at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden. Standing across from him will be current UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena—the same man who dethroned Makhachev’s friend and training partner, Belal Muhammad, to claim the title.

But as fight night draws closer, one question has been circulating among fans. Did Alexandre Pantoja really beat Islam Makhachev in the past? If that were true, ‘3-Name Jack’ might have a blueprint to study heading into the fight. The bigger question, however, is whether that matchup ever actually happened. Here’s what we know.

How did Alexandre Pantoja defeat Islam Makhachev?

So, how did ‘The Cannibal’ beat Makhachev? Well, the short answer is he didn’t. In fact, they never fought. On top of that, Alexandre Pantoja has never fought at lightweight (155 lbs) in his professional MMA career, including the UFC. On the other hand, Islam Makhachev has never fought in the flyweight division, where Pantoja is. So, ipso facto, they were never matched against each other, and Pantoja never beat Islam. 

Pantoja, of course, is the current flyweight champion, having last defended his title against Kai Kara-France in June 2025. He won the title by defeating Brandon Moreno back in July 2023 and has defended it four times. Islam Makhachev, on the other hand, won the UFC lightweight title on October 22, 2022, at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, by defeating Charles Oliveira via second-round arm-triangle choke submission.

But here’s the thing. Islam is currently 17-1 in the UFC. So, the question you should be asking is, who defeated Islam Makhachev?

Who defeated Makhachev? And where is he now?

Pantoja wasn’t the one to hand Makhachev his sole loss, but the Dagestani did taste defeat once. And it came against Brazilian fighter Adriano Martins via first-round knockout (1:46) at UFC 192 on October 3, 2015, in Houston, Texas. That’s a pretty big achievement for Martins, considering what Makhachev has managed to do since then, right?

Yes, but things didn’t quite go well for the Brazilian after the fight. After beating Makhachev, Martins went on a four-fight losing streak. He lost to Leonardo Santos via split decision, and Kajan Johnson scored a third-round knockout against him. Martins was then released from the UFC, but he didn’t give up fighting.

Despite that, his losing streak continued. He dropped a unanimous decision to Alexander Shabliy and another against Kaynan Kruschewsky in December 2019. Adriano Martins hasn’t fought since then. 

That being said, Islam Makhachev isn’t as untouchable as he appears today. His lone career loss came years ago, and he’s evolved dramatically since then—refining his striking, tightening his grappling, and developing into one of the most dominant champions in the sport. But can Jack Della Maddalena hand Islam his second loss?