Islam Makhachev has no intention of calling out Conor McGregor if he wins the UFC lightweight title this weekend.
The Russian star will take to the octagon on Saturday night in his maiden title challenge against Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. He has enjoyed a rapid rise to the top of the division since signing with the promotion, in which he has been fighting under the guidance of UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov.
With McGregor having shared a bitter long-term rivalry with the former UFC champion, Makhachev has naturally been thrust into the limelight as the natural successor to continue the feud with the Irishman. However the 31-year-old wants to fight a higher-ranked contender and has named Beneil Dariush as a potential candidate.
"He come back and just tweeted you know, that's it," Makhachev said during an appearance on the Full Send podcast when discussing if he would hand McGregor a title shot if he wins. "He's always in the Twitter because people almost forget him, you know. And he try to put something and he put today something, people are gonna talk about him.
"But I don't believe he's going to come back. Every fighter tries to call him out after they win. I'm not going call him after the fight because I want to fight with real fighters who deserve the title shot. Gamrot, Beneil, other guys."
Makhachev's reference may have been towards upcoming opponent Oliveira who called out McGregor following his win over Justin Gaethje earlier this year. The Brazilian was stripped of the 155lb title after missing weight, which will see him have to share the cage with the Russian to win back his belt before entertaining any shot from the Irishman.
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McGregor has yet to compete since breaking his leg in a second consecutive defeat by Dustin Poirier last July but immediately plotted a route back to the top with an immediate title shot touted against Oliveira. However after making a return to training, a fight with the leading 155lb fighter now seems unlikely with the 34-year-old instead confirming he will look to make a comeback at 170lb.
Despite it being highly unlikely Makhachev will step into the cage with McGregor in the near future, the Irishman has already launched one of his scathing social media attacks on the Dagestani native. He tweeted: "I’ll fight that s***-stain [sic] makchavich, no sweat. Pitiful punching and then bottles the [Rafael dos Anjos] fight after mouthing off him lol.
"Embarrassing. Watch when I come back. Same as before. Anyone. Any weight. Anywhere. Game full of s*** stains." He then continued: "Am I the only one that sees this stuff for what it is or what’s the craic? Not a scratch, man. Embarrassing! I open skin like I’m a scalpel. The sooner the better this leg heals fully and we can get the f*** back going again, Proper! It’s coming 100 per cent!"
