Islam Makhachev May Retire Next Month, Following Khabib's Footsteps

Islam Makhachev is predicted to retire from UFC after fighting Arman Tsarukyan in the UFC 311 duel in Inglewood, California, January 18, 2025.
The fight will be the second edition or a repeat duel of Makhachev vs Tsarukyan. The first Makhachev vs Tsarukyan duel took place in April 2019 at UFC Fight Night. The match was won by Makhachev with a points victory.
Quoted from MMA Fighting, UFC 311 will be a fight for the UFC lightweight championship belt currently held by Islam Makhachev.
After the duel, Islam Makhachev has the potential to retire. According to his coach, Javier Mendez, Makhachev could follow in the footsteps of Khabib Nurmagomedov who retired after defending his championship belt.
The Eagle, Khabib's nickname, retired from the UFC after defeating Dustin Poirier in a rematch that was also a title fight. The victory made Khabib defend the UFC title for the third time in a row.
Against Tsarukyan later will be the fourth fight for Makhachev in defending the title. If he wins, Islam Makhachev will become the first fighter to defend the UFC lightweight title for the fourth time.
"He'll probably do what Khabib [Nurmagomedov] did and retire at 35," Mendez told Submission Radio.
"Yeah, Khabib did it a lot earlier, but I think 35 is a magic number for these guys. They have that in their head, that 35 is the cutoff point," Mendez added.
The American-Mexican trainer admitted that the possibility of Islam Makhachev retiring would be controversial.
"Some people will be against it [retirement], but I think Islam is financially stable, he's very good at managing his money, so I think he'll probably be successful after 35," Mendez said.
According to the UFC rankings, Tsarukyan is eligible to fight for the UFC lightweight championship belt against Makhachev. The Georgian fighter is currently ranked number one in the UFC lightweight class.
Arman Tsarukyan is undefeated in his last four UFC lightweight fights. Tsarukyan won two of those fights by KO and TKO.