Beneil Dariush thinks the one method to beat UFC light-weight champion Islam Makhachev is on the toes.
Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) defends his title in a rematch towards Arman Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) Jan. 18 within the UFC 311 most important occasion from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., and airs on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Makhachev’s lone-career loss got here early in his profession when he was knocked out by Adriano Martins in October 2015. Since then, he has torn by competitors, amassing an 14-fight win streak and notching three title defenses. Dariush doesn’t see Tsarukyan outgrappling Makhachev, however advises him to stress the champion with a view to discover success on the toes.
“You need to meet his feints,” Dariush advised Inside Preventing on Makhachev. “He does a whole lot of feints, a whole lot of fakes, and when you don’t meet these he’s going to have the ability to push you again, and he’s going to have the ability to put stress on you simply with that. In the event you can’t meet that, then it’s type of an uphill struggle for you. However when you might begin to meet these, you can begin to see his reactions, what he desires to do.
“And in the end to have the ability to beat him, you must be very well-rounded, and I might say specialised in placing, specializing in grappling. He focuses on grappling. It’s going to cancel out, however when you’re adequate to grapple – you may have good grappling however you focus on placing – I believe you’ll be able to put extra stress on him.”
On the identical night time, Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6-1 UFC) returns in a light-weight bout towards Renato Moicano (20-5-1 MMA, 12-5 UFC). He hasn’t competed since a knockout loss to Tsarukyan in December 2023.
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