With UFC 311: Makhachev vs Tsarukyan approaching, the lightweight champion has been on a press tour lately.
Yet Islam Makhachev is not only the UFC lightweight champion, he is also the reigning pound-for-pound king and in a recent viral clip told two MMA legends to change the name of their 'Pound 4 Pound' podcast.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Islam Makhachev says UFC legends need his 'permission' for podcasts
Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman represent two of the greatest champions in UFC history, with both athletes previously laying claim to the pound-for-pound moniker, ergo; their podcast is understandably called 'Pound 4 Pound'.
But with Islam Makhachev reigning as the dominant pound-for-pound king, the 155-pound champion hilariously threw himself into both 'Triple C' and 'The Nigerian Nightmare' during a fascinating conversation with Demetrious Johnson.
“Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman, they call their podcast 'Pound for Pound'. We do not agree with this. You don't have permission from our boys. You have to call us [and] we give you permission.”
The consensus flyweight GOAT giggled when he argued that pound-for-pound was “copyrighted” courtesy of Makhachev and Johnson, circa 2024.
Fortunately, Makhachev offered an alternative: “Maybe we'll forgive them if they put our podcast on their channel… We have the same manager, call Ali [Abdelaziz] and we need to discuss this.”
Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman respond to Makhachev's plague
It didn't take long for that segment to reach Cejudo and Usman, with the pair of UFC legends taking the opportunity to clap for Makhachev and then clap back during their most recent podcast episode.
Usman couldn't believe what he heard: “Islam, why am I doing it like this?!” laughed the former welterweight champion.
“Ey, listen, it is what it is – Islam is of course pound-for-pound king at the moment, it makes certain decisions about that.”
The former flyweight and bantamweight champion chuckled as he teased that Islam is “greedy” because the Russian “wants the whole thing pound for pound for himself, as he should.”
This was all in jest, with Cejudo also acknowledging that it's been fun to see Makhachev's personality emerge more and more in recent years.
“The most important thing is that Islam has come out of its shell; We all know Khabib is very charismatic, and it feels like we're getting a lot more of that now from Islam Makhachev.”
“But that being said, we are pound-4-pound, call it what you want [but] Kamaru Usman and Triple C have done great things in combat sports, and no one should have to put up with that.”
UFC 311: Makhachev vs Tsarukyan takes place on January 18, with Henry Cejudo's return to MMA action also just confirmed.
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