Michael Bisping isn’t sure how well Islam Makhachev will handle the size difference at welterweight.
Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) relinquished his UFC lightweight title for a move up to 170 pounds. He is expected to challenge Jack Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC), who dethroned Belal Muhammad to claim the welterweight title at UFC 315.
After seeing Makhachev struggle against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in their first fight at UFC 284, Bisping questions Makhachev’s ability to physically deal with welterweights. Della Maddalena said Makhachev is too small for welterweight.
“Yeah, it’s the dream first title defense, pound-for-pound No. 1,” Della Maddalena said of Makhachev in a recent interview with Eternal MMA. “Get him back for Volk. We saw what Volk did to him. I’m going to get him. He’s too little; he’s too little. I’m going to get him.”
Bisping agrees with Della Maddalena.
“I think he’s got a point,” Bisping said on his “Believe You Me” podcast. “He’s got a point because Volk, we all love Volk, what a guy, he’s awesome, but if you’ve ever been around him, he’s not a very big man. He is the man, but he’s a smaller man. And that first fight with Islam, he gave him everything he could handle. Jack Della Maddalena is not a small 170 pounder.”
Bisping concluded by making a bold statement about Makhachev, who’s on a 15-fight winning streak, having notched a UFC lightweight record of four title defenses.
“It might be a big mistake for Islam going up to 170,” Bisping said. “It might be a bit of a stretch, but fair play to him. I respect it.”
