UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is not going to fight Arman Tsarukyan in October. As he is the Dana White-led promotion’s biggest Muslim star, the Dagestani was expected to fight on the UFC’s annual Abu Dhabi PPV card in October. However, Makhachev has suffered a hand injury, ruling him out of a possible UFC 308 main event bout against the official #1 lightweight title contender. The Dagestani champ’s coach, the legendary Javier Mendez, confirmed to Helen Yee Sports that Makhachev will not be back in October, but postulated some other possible return dates.
“Yes, he’s [Islam Makhachev’s] got a ligament injury and… he’s getting consultation from different doctors and we’ll see what they say he has to do. But yeah, no, he’s not going to be able to train to, you know, for a fight [in October]. So probably late December, or maybe January, I don’t know, depends what the UFC and them can come up with. But he’s definitely not going to be ready to fight in October
like people are hoping,” Mendez said in an interview on Yee’s YouTube channel.
| Islam Makhachev’s head coach Javier Mendez tells @HelenYeeSports that the lightweight champion will ‘definitely’ NOT be ready to fight at #UFC308 in Abu Dhabi in October.
pic.twitter.com/jlqfnqVf63
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) August 2, 2024
(More to follow)
The post Islam Makhachev’s UFC 308 Pullout Scare Gets Real as Coach Breaks Silence on UFC Champ’s Ligament Injury appeared first on EssentiallySports.