Cain Velasquez has heaped praise on Islam Makhachev.
Velasquez considers Makhachev an extraordinary athlete who has reached the pinnacle of the sport. From conversations with his coach, Javier Mendez, Velasquez knows that the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king is a hard worker in the gym.
Cain Velasquez explains why Islam Makhachev continues to dominate under Javier Mendez
Having been honed into a champion himself by Mendez, Velasquez knows that Makhachev is in good hands with the American Kickboxing Academy coach. The Hall of Famer and former UFC heavyweight champion believes the Dagestani will continue his dominant title run.
“[Islam] is a special type of athlete,” Velasquez told Red Corner MMA. “He’s one of the guys at the pinnacle of this sport. I talk with Javier all the time, and Islam and those guys are always doing great. They are in great hands. Javier is the one who builds champions… I see Islam continuing to do what he’s been doing, and that’s winning impressively. He’s somebody who has mastered all aspects of MMA.”
Velasquez was the flagbearer for AKA before the likes of Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockhold and Khabib Nurmagomedov won gold in the UFC. Makhachev is the latest to bring a UFC championship to the gym.
Makhachev (28-1) is undefeated in 16 straight UFC outings since his lone professional loss in 2015. He defended the UFC lightweight title four times, the most in the division’s history, before moving up to welterweight and dominantly dethroning Jack Della Maddalena to win the 170-pound title.
Makhachev is now set to defend his welterweight title for the first time against Ian Garry (17-1) at UFC 330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Center in Philadelphia. A successful title defense will see the Russian break the record for the longest win streak in the history of the Octagon.
