UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev faced Alexander Volkanovski in a legendary bout at UFC 284. ‘Volk’, moved up a weight class to fight Makhachev at featherweight. Although Makhachev managed to win the decision, Volkanovski won the fans’ and even analysts’ hearts for the fight he put up.

And it seems Makhachev has taken a page out of the Australian’s book to move up a weight class and face the welterweight champion. Early this year, he floated a possible match against that division’s champion, Leon Edwards for UFC 294. That fight, however, did not materialize. But, depending on how his rematch against Charles Oliveira goes and the results of the UFC 296 main event, he may get his wish.

Islam Makhachev responds to Colby Covington’s callout

In an interview with James Lynch a few days ago, Colby Covington called out Islam Makhachev. ‘Chaos’ will face Leon Edwards at UFC 296 in December for the welterweight title. And if he wins, he told Lynch that he wants to face Makhachev. And Makhachev seems on board. He initially responded with a two-word tweet that said “Easy money”.

And now he has come out with a detailed statement on the bout. He told ESPN that he hoped Covington won at UFC 296 since Edwards has not expressed interest in fighting him, as Covington has. He said he looked forward to fighting the American and saw it as a contest between Dagestani wrestling and American NCAA wrestling.

“I hope [Covington] wins, because I don’t know what Leon says about [fighting me]. I’ve never heard Leon say he wants this fight. But Colby wants it. That’s why I want Colby to win and we can meet one day. It would be a very good fight, he has good wrestling. It’s going to be U.S. wrestling vs. Dagestan wrestling,” Makhchev said.

The Dagestani also complemented Covington’s fight prowess but felt he would emerge victorious when all was said and then. “He’s a good fighter. He has good wrestling and good conditioning, but in my opinion, I stop his wrestling and land many good punches,” the lightweight champion added. Predictably, this created a buzz among fans they took to social media to let their thoughts known.

Fans react to Makhachev accepting Covington’s challenge for welterweight bout

Fans reacted to the back-and-forth between the two stars. Here is what some fans had to say.

One fan wrote he liked Makhachev more than Khabib Nurmagomedov:

“Damn Islam already more likeable than khabib for me”

Another agreed to the opinion:

“Islam is better than khabib imo”

One was looking forward to the build-up for the potential match:

“Islam vs Leon would be sick too, but the build up to Islam vs Colby would be a lot better”

One user said it was his dream fight:

“this is my dream fight, i hope everything goes well for them”

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Another felt Islam was too good for Covington:

“Islam’s judo and grappling would be too much for Colby imo”

While many fans can just speculate for now who might emerge the victor when they finally face off against each other, from the looks of it so far, we all can be assured that the fight will be worth the wait. What do you think about a possible Makhachev vs. Covington match? Let us know in the comments section below.

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