UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev prepares for his first title defense against Ian Machado Garry. [Getty Images]
UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev prepares for his first title defense against Ian Machado Garry. [Getty Images]

UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev (34, Russia) has put himself on alert after watching a string of stunning defeats by fighters once considered untouchable champions in their divisions. He has vowed not to let his guard down or lose focus heading into his title defense.

Makhachev steps into the octagon for his first welterweight title defense against Ian Machado Garry in the main event of UFC 330 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday (local time). It will be his first fight since he defeated Jack Della Maddalena last November to add the welterweight belt to his lightweight title.

The lightweight division he vacated in 2025 to move up has since seen seismic shifts. Ilia Tofuria claimed that belt in June of that year, stopping Charles Oliveira in a title fight, and quickly rose to become one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport — with some suggesting he had no worthy challengers.

But Tofuria came crashing down at the UFC White House event in June, suffering a fourth-round TKO loss to heavy underdog Justin Gaethje in his first title defense.

The middleweight division produced a comparable upset. Hamzat Chimaev, widely regarded as the dominant force in the division with a move to light heavyweight seen as inevitable, lost a decision to Sean Strickland in his first title defense in May.

Tofuria had been 17-0 and Chimaev 15-0 before each suffered his first professional loss. Makhachev watched it all unfold. The back-to-back upsets were a clear reminder that complacency, even on the cusp of a historic achievement, can be costly.

Asked in a recent interview with North American MMA outlet MMA Junkie what he took from those shocking defeats ahead of UFC 330, Makhachev said his team had discussed the losses. "Some of them maybe lost focus or didn't keep training hard," he said.

"But everybody knows our gym doesn't work like that. We always train really hard. The coaches always push hard," he added. "And it doesn't matter if you're a champion or not — we always keep the same attitude." He said there was no chance he would become complacent.

With an overall record of 28-1, a victory Saturday would give Makhachev 17 consecutive UFC wins, breaking the record of 16 straight held by retired Anderson Silva. Makhachev appears to have set his sights on retiring undefeated at the peak of his career — much like his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, who vacated the lightweight belt and retired unbeaten.

His opponent, Ian Garry, brings sharp striking and one of the best takedown defenses in the UFC. The question is whether Makhachev will lean on his trademark wrestling to grind out the win, or mix in striking and other tools to create a more complex fight.


yjc@heraldcorp.com