Islam Makhachev was able to withstand the pressure of Alexander Volkanovski during the main event of UFC 284 on Saturday night. He retains his Lightweight Championship belt and will take over as the pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in the UFC rankings. The Nurmagomedov prodigy is set to dominate the Lightweight Division and continue to defend his title. In the wake of his victory, we'll be looking at a few possible opponents for Islam Makhachev's next fight after his win at UFC 284.
Alexander Volkanovski
This matchup was much closer in the cage than oddsmakers had hinted in the betting lines. The shorter Alexander Volkanovski impressed the MMA world with his ability to stuff the takedowns of Makhachev and be the more aggressive fighter on the feet. With a judge's decision ultimately left to make the final call, there's no question we'll see these two fight each other again. In fact, both fighters have already agreed to a possible rematch in the future.
For now, however, Volkanovski was vocal about returning to the featherweight division to regain his vacated title against newly crowned Featherweight Champion Yair Rodriguez. We'll have to wait at least a short time before we see Volkanovski and Makhachev fight again, but the bright side is that neither fighter sustained serious damage and will be ready to fight again relatively soon.
Winner of Beneil Dariush vs. Charles Oliveira
Just two days ago, Charles Oliveira began confirming the negotiations of a match against Beneil Dariush for UFC 288 on May 6, 2023. No matter the result, both fighters will earn a title shot with a win in this fight. Beneil Dariush won impressively his last time out against rising star Mateusz Gamrot. He's calling for his respect and has been asking for a title shot; he'll most certainly get one if he's able to put away the former champion in Oliveira. Dariush has made leaps in his striking recently and would prove to be a submission threat to Makhachev in a possible matchup.
On the flip side, Charles Oliveira needs a bounce back win after losing his belt to the now-champion Islam Makhachev. Since an immediate rematch between the two was not in order, beating Beneil Dariush would prove Oliveira's title hopes to be undeniable. Oliveira and Makhachev would face off again for another super fight, with Islam having the confidence from their last bout. Both matchups would be equally intriguing, and it'll be interesting to see how much Makhachev improves in the months to come.
Move up to Welterweight
With how big Islam Makhachev is for the 155lb division, he could always make the move to Welterweight and fight closer to his natural weight at 170. He sizes up fairly well against the top of that division and would enjoy not having to cut a huge amount of weight. His already suffocating grappling would become even more lethal if Makhachev were to be carrying around an extra 20 pounds in the Octagon.
Since Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman are set to rematch in London, either of those fighters would make a great super fight with Makhachev, even though they both would have a strength advantage over him. Makhachev could also meet with Khamzat Chimaev in what would be the biggest fight in memory between two young superstars.
However, Islam is aware that the Welterweight Division is full of killers who outsize him significantly. I don't see him taking a chance with a move up unless he becomes bored with clearing out the entire Lightweight Division.
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