‘The Hardest Fight Of My Life’

On the new Countdown to UFC 294 episode, Khabib and Islam break down the first Makhachev vs. Volkanovski fight and share their scores.

UFC 294 is a week away, and it’s being headlined by a new main event between lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski.

In a new feature ripped from UFC 294 Countdown, Makhachev and his friend, mentor, and training partner Khabib Nurmagomedov go over his path to the championship and the first fight against Volkanovski.

“I’m very proud to represent Dagestan,” Makhachev said. “Before Khabib won the title, not many people knew about Dagestan. I give inspiration to the people of Dagestan just by following my dreams, training hard every day to be UFC champion.”

“I was training with Khabib when I was young. He gave me a hard time. The rounds helped me be better because if you’re training hard, fight is gonna be easy. My coach Abdulmanap [Nurmagomedov] told us Khabib is gonna be champion. And when he retires, he told everybody, Islam will come and take the belt.”

“Islam was one of the favorite students of my father and he really loved him like his son,” Khabib said. “He really liked his discipline and focus, his championship mentality, everything. I was so proud when Islam won this title, I don’t even know when I was more happy, when I won my title or Islam won.”

“When you defend the title, this is great,” he added later. “But it’s never going to be the same as when you win the UFC title. When Islam fought in Abu Dhabi, it was half Dagestan there. It was all of his relatives. And my father’s dreams came true. When you win first time your title, this is an energy, feeling and emotion that you’re never going to feel again.”

As for the original fight against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in February, Makhachev admits it was a tough one. But he’s adamant that he won despite what the haters may say.

“Volkanovski, this is the hardest fight in my life,” he said. “Because for the first time in my life I fought five rounds. But I landed very hard punches. I took him down. I took his back. You have to ask him: what did you do to win this fight? Some people say that the fight was close because they just saw the last minute. But all people who understand MMA, they know I won by unanimous decision.”

The Countdown episode showed Makhachev and Nurmagomedov rewatching the first Volkanovski fight.

“First round, second round, and fourth round for sure,” Khabib said. “Third round, okay, fifty-fifty. That’s it. It was three-two or four-one, one hundred percent. Islam defended his title.”

“In the fight, I know. In my mind, I think I won three or four rounds,” Islam declared. “And still!”