Summary
- Bobby Green takes short notice fight against Islam Makhachev
- Makhachev likely to get title shot if he registers a dominant win
- Two other interesting fights to watch out for
Many MMA pundits believe that Islam Makhachev is the uncrowned champion of the UFC lightweight division.
He was scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush to determine the next number one contender but Dariush suffered a freak injury this month and pulled out of the fight.
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Makhachev told reporters that he wanted to fight and did not want to wait for Dariush to recover and reschedule the fight. The UFC is have alleged to have called up Gregor Gillespie, Tony Ferguson and Rafael dos Anjos to take a short notice fight with Makhachev but all three declined.
* Odds have been provided by BetOnline and are accurate as of 24/02/2022
Islam Makhachev vs. Bobby Green
The only fighter who was willing to step up was Bobby Green who last fought on 13 Feb and secured an impressive decision win over Nasrat Haqparast. Green informed the UFC that he could take the fight provided it was at Catchweight as he would not be able to make 155 again at short notice. The two fighters have agreed to fight at 160.
Former UFC champ Khabib Nurmagomedov will once again be in the corner of Makhachev who goes in as a heavy betting favorite. Makhachev’s strategy as always will be to take his opponent down, ground and pound him out or submit him.
If he manages to finish Green, he will most likely be in line for a title shot. While most MMA fans know Green for his standup and boxing skills, he does have a strong wrestling background but will it be good enough to stop Makhachev – we will have to wait and see.
Current odds: Islam Makhachev (-900) / Bobby Green (+550)
While Makhachev vs. Green is getting most of the attention, there are a number of other exciting fights on this card. The two fights that we think you should include the co-main event where former lightheavyweight prospect Misha Cirkunov (-114) will once again fight at middleweight to face the durable Wellington Turman (-106). We are going to back Turman to win this as we believe he has a better chin than Cirkunov.
The other fight that you should not miss is the impressive Arman Tsarukyan vs. Joel Alvarez. Tsarukyan (-226) fought Makhachev and lost in the early days of his UFC career but showed that he might be the only fighter at lightweight who has the wrestling skills to beat Makhachev as it was a very close fight. We are going to back him to win against Alvarez (+191).