Gadzhiev saw the «shadow of Khabib» behind the championship fight between Makhachev and Oliveira

MOSCOW, July 17, Oleg Bogatov. President of the promotion company AMC Fight Nights Global Kamil Gadzhiev said that Russian Islam Makhachev deserved a fight for the title of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in lightweight against Brazilian Charles Oliveira. Makhachev's fight against Oliveira will take place on October 22, 2022 in Abu Dhabi at the UFC 280 tournament. Previously, this belt belonged to Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov, who ended his career in October 2020 undefeated (29 wins in 29 fights). «I believed that the UFC would appoint this fight. There was a feeling that Makhachev would have to fight one more fight before him. But the UFC organization decided the issue quite radically. I think that no one in the MMA community doubts that Islam deserved a title fight. We all understand that now behind the Oliveira-Makhachev fight there is a shadow of Khabib Nurmagomedov somewhere. I think that the match will be doubly interesting. We are waiting for one one of the main events in the world of mixed martial arts over the past five years,» Gadzhiev said. «Khabib's shadow is behind Islam, because these are close people. And Khabib will do everything possible so that Islam approaches this fight in the best possible way. Khabib will participate in the training process and in mental preparation. I think that the lion's share of the negotiations on the organization of the battle took place not without his participation. We will see him all the time. You can call it a kind of return of Khabib. Of course, not in the version that we all would like, but this is also good,» the promoter said.