Islam Makhachev’s defense record tainted by unwanted stat following UFC 311 fight change

Ahead of his UFC 311 title defense on Saturday, Islam Makhachev was hit with an unwanted statistic after Arman Tsarukyan's unfortunate withdrawal.

Islam Makhachev was set to face Arman Tsaruykan in a rematch six years in the making, but unfortunately Tsarukyan pulled out of the fight due to injury just before the weigh-in.

Fortunately for the Russian champion, Renato Moicano was upgraded and given a title shot as he was already scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush at UFC 311.

READ MORE: Beneil Dariush Reveals How Dana White 'Cared' for Him After UFC 311 Fight Cancellation

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Islam Makhachev's title defenses have all been against former or current featherweights

The UFC 311 main event fight between Makhachev and Tsarukyan was highly anticipated not only because it was an extremely high-level matchup, but also because it would be Makhachev's first defense against an absolute lightweight.

For years, the Russian champion was labeled a 'weight bully' by the likes of welterweight star Colby Covington, as Covington claimed that Makhachev and his team had all cut extreme amounts of weight to fight in a less natural weight class. them.

The 33-year-old's argument against that hasn't really helped since becoming champion, as his three title defenses to date have come against current or former featherweight fighters.

After winning the vacant title against Charles Oliveira (who also fought at 145 pounds), the Russian's first title defense came against then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

The two fought over a whopping five rounds and were then booked to fight each other again eight months later after Oliveira pulled out of his scheduled rematch against Makhachev.

Makhachev put his stamp on that rivalry with a huge KO and then defended his title against Dustin Poirier, who fought several UFC fights at featherweight.

Moicano's first eight fights of his UFC tenure were fought at featherweight after joining the promotion as Jungle Fight featherweight champion.

Islam Makhachev could break the UFC record with a win at UFC 311

While the Russian champion's reign has been relatively criticized for this, he has a chance to break a UFC record that has stood for more than 15 years at UFC 311 on Saturday.

With a win over Moicano in the main event, Makhachev will break the record for most title defenses in UFC lightweight history.

He is currently tied with four other fighters, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Frankie Edgar, Benson Henderson and BJ Penn, with three title defenses each.

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