Islam Makhachev sent a PFL star on a six-fighter-winning series to sleep with a choke in a recent training video.
Former UFC light weight champion Makhachev is training again while he prepares for his move to Welterweight, where he compiles Jack della Maddalena for a second world title. That fight is expected to take place at UFC 322 in November, after Khabib Nurmagomedov leaked plans last week.
And in preparation for the fight, Makhachev was in the gym with Makkasharip Zaynukov, who recently won his second PFL in South Africa. During the training he put his teammate asleep with a choke before showing off further entries.
Islam Makhachev choked teammate unconscious in bizarre new training video
Islam Makhachev was seen in a recent gym video, again posted by Red Corner MMA on X, training with Makkasharip Zaynukov. The session seemed to be airy, but the UFC legend stitched his teammate until he convulses.
“Go to sleep,” Makhachev would say to Zaynukov in the video and encourage him not to tap. “Go to sleep, Sharip. Don't give up.” As soon as the lightweight starts to flop around on the floor, Makhachev stops and asks him if he had gone asleep.
There is a second part in the video in which Makhachev Zaynukov places in another entry, and Makhachev is said to be seen and says: “Look at the way he resisted, Sharip said that nobody could submit him.”
Islam Makhachev is struggling to come to Welterweight for the next title fight
In that video, Makhachev trains with a different lightweight, and it seems that bulking to a point where he can cut into a good weight turns out to be difficult for the Russian. In contrast to his Mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev has always made professional weight and seems to be raised in an appropriate manner for 155 pounds.
And spoken to MMA Junkie earlier this year, he noted that we have weight after years of staying in shape for a cut to 155 pounds has proved difficult. His teammate Gadzhi Rabadanov referred to the same issue in an interview with Bloody Elbow prior to his own PFL final next week.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
“Maybe he has become a little bigger than before, I don't know,” Rabadanov explained. “Maybe he is working a little more on lifting, power, I don't know what situation he will come in for the fight.
“But now he is the same man, he is not big and after a few months I still don't really know what will happen.”