Morning Report | Chael Sonnen believes Islam Makhachev ‘has to let go’ of thoughts of lightweight return

Islam Makhachev can join the rarefied air of UFC fighters to become two-division champions if he defeats welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena. And Chael Sonnen hopes Makhachev stays in his new weight class.

Few fighters have been permitted to carry two UFC belts at once, with Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes being among the rare exceptions. And only Nunes was allowed to move between divisions and defend her featherweight and bantamweight titles (Cormier was still light heavyweight champion when he won the heavyweight belt, but did not defend the 205-pound title after becoming heavyweight champion).

By all indications, Makhachev had no interest in vacating the lightweight title before moving up to fight Della Maddalena on a date still to be determined. That’s a problem for Sonnen, who thinks Makhachev needs to forget about ever returning to 155 pounds and focus solely on the 170-pound title.

“Islam is continuing to speak to the idea that he never wanted to be stripped at 155,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “He wanted to be able to do both. That if he wanted 170, he wasn’t then going to relinquish 155. He was going to defend. This was his idea was to go back and forth, we’ve only seen that happen one time, that was with Amanda Nunes. That scenario was very different.

“But I just share for you Islam’s still clinging to that. He’s still pushing that narrative. ‘I’m the guy. I never lost. That’s my division. That’s my belt. I’ve got no problem with Ilia. Ilia needs to do one thing well at 155 and then I’ll see him. And it can be anything.’ Islam’s story has never changed, but his circumstance has and I want him to embrace that because Jack is a hard fight. Jack’s a really hard fight and if you get through Jack, it only gets harder. And if Islam does have this idea of ‘I can go back to ‘55, I’m safe at ‘55, I was dominant at ‘55,’ if he doesn’t let his body grow, if he doesn’t enjoy the fruits of his labor, enjoy the fact that he can have more calories when he’s training. If he doesn’t enjoy that because he’s living the lifestyle and and keeping his eye on being within striking distance to get back to 155, he’s going to put himself inadvertently in the same spot that Volkanovski was in.”

Sonnen brings up Alexander Volkanovski—who famously brought his featherweight title with him as he attempted to take Makhachev’s lightweight belt—as an example of how attempting to compete in two divisions simultaneously may have hurt his career. Volkanovski lost a pair of bouts to Makhachev and then in his next title defense at 145 pounds, he was knocked out by Ilia Topuria.

Makhachev is currently the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, so he has as good a chance as any fighter to stay atop two weight classes, but Sonnen warns Makhachev that even the slightest slip-up could cost him.

“And when you’re playing a game of inches, this only makes this much difference, but that’s the game we’re playing,” Sonnen said. “We’re playing a game that’s this close, so it’s just my thought, but it’s also a little bit of my concern.

“All that has to happen mentally is Islam has to let go, that’s it. To find a new relationship, to be successful in that relationship, all you have to do with your past, you’ve just got to let it go and now you’re available. Now you’re available to find this other great relationship and I think Islam can have that at 170 pounds, but he’s got to commit, mentally he’s got to commit himself to the task fully, and that job is at 170.”

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What does Islam Makhachev do if he beats Jack Della Maddalena? He’s not going to just hang around at 170 and notch a few title defenses, is he? Does he campaign for an immediate shot at the middleweight belt?

Would be nice if this fight was actually booked so we could know how long we have to wait to get some answers.

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