Makhachev’s Records, Prediction for Blachowicz vs Guskov

"Friends, let's move on to the UFC. And, of course, the main event of this month—well, the current month, not the calendar one—was on November 16th at UFC 322, where Russia, thanks to Islam Makhachev's fists, claimed its 2nd championship belt in the world's top organization. This time, he took the prize in the welterweight division. By unanimous decision of the judges. Islam was recognized as a double champion and became the best fighter in the world, regardless of weight class. The fight statistics also speak for themselves. Jack Della Maddalena landed 30 significant strikes, while Islam landed 140. Makhachev controlled Maddalena on the ground for 19 minutes and 10 seconds

Well, it depends on your opponent. Sometimes you can sacrifice something for the audience, for the sake of entertainment. And sometimes you need to be as careful and restrained as possible, and do everything necessary to win. With minimal losses for yourself, for your side, and minimal risks involved. That's basically, in essence, what Makhachev did. He took advantage of his strongest side. Which is wrestling. And as it turned out with Maddalena. He has some gaps in that area. But Makhachev's stand-up is good. He works well on his feet. But trading shots with Maddalena on the feet isn't the best idea. So why should he take that risk? The championship title is on the line. Why? I truly think he did absolutely everything right. As for the fans, well, today it might be like this, but tomorrow, it'll be beautiful. Sometimes, that's just how things are in sports. That's just how it is.

And really, even when the crowd started booing, Khabib was shouting to him from the corner, telling him not to pay attention to them. Then he started somehow turning the tension in the arena to his advantage. I want to read out some more statistics. Makhachev hasn't lost in sixteen fights in a row. Ten years. And now he's the only UFC champion, a double UFC champion from Russia. What do you think, guys, will any of our fighters be able to achieve what Makhachev has just done? And when could that happen?

I think that at this particular point in time, and at this stage, on the immediate and distant horizon, no one really has such prospects yet. So far, I don't see any mixed martial arts fighters who could achieve or replicate the same outstanding result. First of all, you need to be in the same weight class, say at sixty five to sixty six kilograms, and then move up to the seventy kilogram weight class. Well, who is there at 66 who could move up to 70? Or if you're at 70, you can move up to 77. And vice versa, you could list it that way too. The only individual who could be considered, more or less, as someone who might potentially come close to achieving that level is Chimaev. This is, of course, assuming that he decides to move up a weight class in the future, which could put him in a position to challenge for that status.

There are some questions with him, because he doesn't officially represent Russia.

Yeah, that's why I said, for now, there's really no one on the horizon at the moment. That's it... And he's just kind of drifting around, moving from place to place, here and there, as they say. And it's still quite unclear which side he actually wants to end up on in the end. That's how it is.

I completely agree with Sergey. In the near future, in the foreseeable future, At this time, we do not see any prominent or well-known big names who could possibly repeat this impressive achievement anytime soon, let alone surpass it. Accordingly, this result is truly extraordinary. We sincerely congratulate Islam and his entire team on this remarkable achievement. And we will continue to keep a close eye on any new names, as well as the already established ones, in the future. I agree that Khamzat Chimaev could theoretically achieve similar success. Honestly, there’s probably no one else to name.

And again, if we think about it for a moment, Tsarukyan might, if he finally gets a long-awaited opportunity to fight for the championship title at 155 pounds in the lightweight division and manages to win the belt, then maybe he could also consider moving up to compete at 170 pounds in the welterweight division. This would be a big step, as not many fighters are able to challenge themselves in multiple weight classes at such a high level.

But he also represents Armenia. Even though he grew up here and learned everything here. It's very strange.

Yeah, and as far as I know, from what I understand, he does his training in Krasnodar and also somewhere in America.

Well then, I’ll also join in congratulating Islam Makhachev. I’m truly very happy, I followed his fight. So, the last topic. On December 7th, at UFC 323 in Las Vegas, former MMA Series fighter Bogdan Guskov will compete. His opponent will be the experienced athlete, the Pole Jan Błachowicz. Bogdan is currently ranked eleventh in the light heavyweight division and is on a four-fight winning streak. Błachowicz, a former league champion, is ranked fifth, but things haven’t been going so well for him lately. Misha, could you please tell us more about the guys’ stats?

Well, it’s worth noting here that Błachowicz is coming into this fight on a two-fight losing streak. I watched his last fight against Ulberg, a very promising striker. As expected, Ulberg outstruck him and took the win by unanimous decision, while Bogdan Guskov won his last fight. But what caught my attention? Błachowicz has never lost more than two times in a row in his entire career. He’s had single losses followed by wins, and at most two losses in a row, but he’s never had more than two consecutive defeats. Given the fact that I see Guskov as a slight favorite in this matchup. It’ll be very interesting to see if Błachowicz gets a third loss. That's an interesting little detail.

Although, perhaps... Błachowicz is actually given slightly better odds in this matchup, just a bit, on the official UFC website.

If we also look at the odds from Russian bookmakers, you can see that Błachowicz is a slight favorite, but I don’t quite agree with that. I think Bogdan is hungrier, younger, and more fired up. Plus, we've actually seen firsthand, with our own eyes, how Bogdan performs in the ring. We know, without a doubt, exactly how powerful and impressive his punch is. In my opinion, I think Bogdan is a slight favorite in this matchup. Sergey, did you ever get a chance to meet Bogdan personally when you were training at Gor MMA?

Didn't get the chance this time.

I had already sparred with him before. Before my fight with Vitya Klyuev, when I was training for my bout. He would come into the gym. And I saw him during my last training camp too. So, Bogdan is Bogdan. I think that... Well, not many... There are people who underestimate him, but that underestimation... I think that underestimation disappears right away, as soon as people spend even just three minutes sparring with him. It all goes away immediately, just like that. He's actually a very good wrestler. And for his weight class, for light heavyweight, he has really fast hands. He throws his punches extremely fast, and they really hurt when they land. They're very solid and powerful. I'm picking him as the favorite in this fight. In the fight with Blachowicz. Blachowicz too, of course... He's certainly no walk in the park, not by any means, but still, Bogdan is noticeably more fired up, much more motivated, younger, and even hungrier than ever before. So, quickly. All the advantages are on his side here. The only question is probably the mental game. And how each of them prepares for the fight. That's how it usually goes. It's rare for someone to go into a fight without any injuries at all. It will all depend on who comes into the fight with the fewest accumulated injuries.

I often hear from the guys training at the Gor MMA gym, when someone asks, 'How ready are you for the fight?' And everyone answers, 'I'm ready, I sparred with Bogdan, and man, he hits hard!' Yeah, I've already noticed that trend. If you made it through sparring with Bogdan, it means you're ready.

Well, let's wish... It's like when you're going for the maroon beret, when you're preparing for something challenging in your life, you know? At least try your best to make it all the way to the end of the round, okay?

We wish Bogdan victory and look forward to seeing you all at the MMA Series 93 tournament on December 13th. It's going to be intense. Thank you, friends, for the discussion and see you next time.

Thank you, all the best.

Thank you very much.

Yes, thank you, friends.