Islam Makhachev has often been critical about UFC fighters who receive BJJ black belts when he doesn’t think they deserve them, but now he’s actually listed who he’s talking about specifically. Although Makhachev’s previous statements questioning the legitimacy of certain MMA fighters’ black belts was highly controversial, elite grapplers like Craig Jones have actually agreed with him in part. It certainly didn’t earn him many friends among his fellow fighters of course, as many of them have taken issue with his comments over the years. It hasn’t stopped Makhachev’s meteoric rise to the top of the lightweight division though of course, and he’s been the champion ever since he submitted Charles Oliveira almost two years ago.
Makhachev recently appeared on Hosheh MMA for an interview and the hosts asked him for his thoughts on specific UFC fighters being BJJ black belts. They started out with two fantastic grapplers, Tom Aspinall and Aljamain Sterling, and Makhachev was immediately approving of their skills as black belts. When it came to ask about fellow lightweight veteran Dustin Poirier, Makhachev’s response was short and a little less complimentary; ‘Maybe brown…’. It didn’t get any better from there either, as Paddy Pimblett was next on the list and Makhachev was even less sure of his skills; ’Him maybe brown, or purple.’
Out of all the UFC fighters that Islam Makhachev was asked about during the interview, it was Tony Ferguson who he gave the harshest criticism to:
“No, he don’t have black belt. He has a couple of things on the ground that he did with many fighters. But he is not a real black belt. I work with black belts, real black belts; it’s so tough. For the fighters, they get a gift… Some don’t deserve it.”
The interview with Islam Makhachev where he discusses which UFC fighters he thinks don’t deserve their BJJ black belts was shared to the official Twitter account of Home of Fight:
😂 🥋 Islam Makhachev names the fighters who deserved the BJJ black belt and the ones who were gifted by their coaches.
🎥 @HoshehMma pic.twitter.com/aTHzDXcYNq
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 10, 2024
