Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev are close as brothers. After all, the duo have been friends and trained under Khabib’s legendary father, Abdulmanap, since they were children. And while ‘The Eagle’ retired a bit prematurely, Makhachev is still writing his legacy.

In fact, the Dagestani recently vacated lightweight champ is setting up for the most important fight of his career. Makhachev has officially moved up and is set to face Jack Della Maddalena for the latter’s welterweight title. A win would make him a double champ and get him one step closer to GOAT contention.

So when the Makhachkala native posted a picture of himself on his dirt bike, climbing a steep and rocky mountain trail, where one wrong move could seemingly be life-threatening, Khabib was not happy. On Makhachev’s original post, ‘The Eagle’ reacted with a simple “🤦”emoji.

And if that wasn’t enough to indicate Khabib’s true thoughts about the topic, the former lightweight champ took to his Instagram Story, where he shared Makhachev’s mountain biking post along with the caption “[Islam Makhachev] I don’t like this.” 

And it is easy to see why. After all, mountain biking is a very dangerous activity– one of the few activities more dangerous than combat sports. And with a legacy-defining fight in the offing for Makhachev against a much bigger guy than any the Dagestani has fought so far, Khabib is understandably upset and doesn’t like Makhachev putting his life and health at risk. Especially because of the stakes of his next fight.

But despite his next fight being against the welterweight champion, the soon-to-be former lightweight champion has been feuding with the former featherweight champ, and now-lightweight title contender Ilia Topuria. Despite being granted what he wanted all along—a shot at the 155 lbs belt—’El Matador’ cannot seem to let the fact go of Makhachev moving up and not facing him.

Ilia Topuria tells Islam Makhachev to “get in line”

Islam Makhachev may lose everything in his next fight. Before moving up to welterweight, the Dagestani had said that he wanted to keep his lightweight title as well. However, it seems the UFC didn’t agree, and the undisputed lightweight title would be up for grabs at UFC 317. Ilia Topuria, of course, is set to fight former champ Charles Oliveira for the 155-pound crown at the June 28 International Fight Week clash.

And if Makhachev fails to win the welterweight title against ‘JDM’, he may have nothing, and will have to wait a long time indeed before he even gets to fight for the lightweight title that he defended four times. At least that is what Ilia Topuria has claimed he would do if he becomes the 155-pound king at UFC 317.

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“After this fight, when I have the belt, he might get in line, which is a long one, so more than one’s eyes will be shining,” Topuria said in a recent interview. This means that Makhachev, despite being statistically the greatest lightweight champ of the UFC and not losing the title in a fight, would have to become just another top contender in the division he ruled the roost in. Talk about high stakes for the Makahchev-Della Maddalena clash. And putting your well-being in danger before such a consequential clash is understandably ticking off Khabib.

What do you think about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s thoughts on Islam Makhachev’s mountain biking adventure? Let us know in the comments below.