Islam Makhachev’s manager provides an update on his title defense against Arman Tsarukyan… ‘We have not received anything’

After successfully defending his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 earlier this year, Islam Makhachev suffered an injury that will plague him for the rest of the year.

Despite currently being number one on the pound-for-pound list, Islam Makhachev has only fought once this year after suffering a hand injury that kept him on the sidelines.

However, his next title defense will likely come against former foe Arman Tsarukyan after he narrowly defeated Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 last April.

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Islam Makhachev's manager provides an update on the title defense

Makhachev's team recently leaked on Instagram that his title defense against 'Ahalkalakets' would take place on January 18 at UFC 311, but his manager has now provided an update on that possible date.

“No, the contracts have not been signed yet. Personally, we have not signed or received anything yet, but we are preparing for January 18,” Makhachev's manager told Ushatayka.

“In September we were given this date, we accepted it and there was no specific confirmation about the opponent yet. We assume it will be Arman Tsarukyan,” he continued.

Tsarukyan is the clear contender in the division, but former champion Oliveira recently scored an impressive victory against Michael Chandler at UFC 309, and he hopes to win a rematch against Makhachev or Tsarukyan.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov will be in Islam Makhachev's corner

In his pursuit of the lightweight title, Makhachev was cornered by former division champion and teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov.

However, when the 33-year-old claimed the 155-pound belt, Nurmagomedov was no longer part of his corner team, claiming he had left everything related to fighting behind.

Despite this, Makhachev's manager confirmed that 'The Eagle' will once again return to the 33-year-old's corner for his rematch against Tsarukyan.

It has not yet been confirmed by the promotion whether the lightweight title fight will take place on the UFC 311 card, but they have already confirmed a number of high-level fights for the event.

The current co-main event will take place between former light heavyweight champions Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka, with things heating up between these two 205lbers.

The promotion also recently announced that Kevin Holland will face recent debutant and ONE Championship doubles champion Reinier de Ridder.

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