The name of the next potential rival Islam Makhachev has become known.
According to American media reports, the Russian lightweight will face Drew Dober at UFC 259 on March 6.
It is currently unknown where the show will take place, but a significant portion of the card has already been revealed.
So, it is assumed that teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov will perform together with the champion in two weight categories Amanda Nunez, the former holder of the bantamweight belt Dominic Cruz, ex-contender for the light heavyweight title Thiago Santos and compatriot Askar Askarov.
It is worth recalling that there were rumors about the organization of the duel between Makhachev and Dober a week and a half ago.
ESPN journalist Brett Okamoto was the first to report this, stating that the bout is scheduled to take place at a major championship tournament in March.
At the same time, he noted that in terms of the venue of the event, preference is given to Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi - the cities that actually divided the UFC tournaments among themselves during the coronavirus pandemic.
On the one hand, Makhachev's decision to return to the octagon as soon as possible can be assessed positively.
A promising fighter who dreams of contender status should remain active and regularly fight to remind the leadership of himself.
Dana White has repeatedly shown that he is especially warm to those who are always ready to take a fight on short notice, are not engaged in choosing opponents, but are ready to fight with everyone.
The personification of this approach to business is Donald Cerrone, largely due to his reliability and became one of the main stars of the promotion.
True, Cowboy is hardly a good example in terms of building a career, because in the end his recklessness and willingness to fight at any time and anywhere only played a cruel joke with him.
Of course, Makhachev should not chase Cerrone in terms of the number of fights held on average per year, but it will not hurt to increase their number a little.
Since September 2016, he has fought six battles, which can hardly be called a high figure.
Of course, there were often objective reasons for this, including a pandemic and injuries, but in the UFC, this is unlikely to be considered a serious excuse.
For comparison, the higher in the ranking of the division Beneil Dariush and Paul Felder managed to fight nine times, Dan Hooker - eight, and Rafael Dos Anjos - 11.
In the end, the decision to agree to a meeting with Dober is fully consistent with the position recently voiced by Nurmagomedov.
The reigning lightweight champion has stated that his teammate needs to "perform more often" and admitted that he would like to see him in action in February 2021.
“In my opinion, his opponent doesn't matter now.
You need to return, fight, win, make a streak of victories, bring it to seven.
And after Ramadan you have to fight again.
I believe that with any opponent the UFC provides, Islam can end the fight ahead of schedule.
You will see it for yourself very soon.
In 2020, he lacked sporting luck, but next year we are planning three fights for him, ”Nurmagomedov said at a press conference in Moscow.
All this is combined with Khabib's recent words that Islam could become his successor as the UFC lightweight champion.
Earlier, Nurmagomedov said that he would like to see the title fight with his participation in the fall of 2021, but at the moment the plan seems impracticable.
The chances of this would have been much greater if he had managed to fight Dos Anjos at UFC 254 in October, but things did not work out in favor of the Russian.
First, the coronavirus delayed the confrontation until November, and then the trauma left Islam behind.
Nevertheless, the organization of the battle with Dober is fraught with not only advantages, but also disadvantages.
And the main one is that the American is not a status fighter, and the victory over him is unlikely to be considered a serious achievement.
Yes, it will allow Makhachev to successfully return to the cage after a long absence and extend the unbeaten streak to seven fights, but it is unlikely to include him among the contenders for getting into the top 7 categories.
But this is exactly what he needs to achieve the ability to fight the stars.
The ideal option for Makhachev would be a meeting with Al Iaquinta, Beneil Dariush or Kevin Lee.
All three are above him in the rating, but hardly superior in skill.
At the same time, Islam is connected with the latter by a long history, which could be used in the promotion of a duel.
The fighters have repeatedly expressed a desire to measure their strength in social networks, but it has not come to the point yet.
As for Dober, he is not a whipping boy.
His assets include three early victories in a row, and the last of them was obtained in a confrontation with the once-considered promising Alexander Hernandez.
But the list of achievements ends there.
Basically, Drew fought with fairly average opponents, with varying success.
His passive defeats against Efrain Escudeiro, Nick Hein and Olivier Obin-Mercier, who can hardly be called high-class fighters.
Of the offenders, only Dariush stands out, but he could not always boast of stability.
Now Dober is experiencing the best period of his career and is approaching the battle with Makhachev on the rise.
The victory over the Russian can become the largest in his career and help, if not to get into the top ten, then at least switch places with a counterpart.
In case of defeat, he practically will not lose anything and will remain a fighter from the top 20, ready at any time to enter the octagon and arrange a spectacular carnage.
He stayed in a similar status throughout his career in MMA.
The fight with Dober is also not very convenient for Makhachev in the sense that it will take place only in March - a little more than a month before Ramadan.
As the UFC heavyweight fighter Shamil Abdurakhimov admitted in an interview with RT, while observing the fast, the athlete cannot train at full strength, which invariably leads to a loss of competitive form, and it takes at least a month to recover.
In this regard, Islam runs the risk of losing precious time and not returning to the octagon at least until mid-summer - early autumn.
And this, in turn, jeopardizes the hopes of participating in three battles in 2021.
However, we have to admit that Makhachev could have had no other options but to take a fight with Dober.
Refusal to fight could prolong an already protracted period without competitive practice, which would negatively affect both his condition and the attitude towards him from the UFC leadership.
Attempts to knock out a meeting with a coveted rival very often negatively reflected on the careers of athletes - a striking example of this is Colby Covington.
In 2018, he defeated Dos Años and became the holder of the interim welterweight title, but due to injury did not agree to fight with the then reigning undisputed champion Tyrone Woodley and asked for a "vacation."
White took the fighter's decision extremely negatively and deprived him of his status as a challenger.
Makhachev's only chance to make the most of this situation is to win not only confidently, but also brightly.
In the UFC, fighters who are able to arrange a spectacle in the octagon and effectively deal with their opponents are highly appreciated, and this is what Islam could not boast of for a long time.
Of the last six fights, he completed only two ahead of schedule, and the last time this happened in July 2018.
Then it took him 4 minutes 43 seconds to catch Kajan Johnson on the elbow lever.
By and large, for Makhachev, this fight can have the same meaning as the duel with Darrell Horcher for Nurmagomedov.
Then the future champion missed two years due to injury and had to fight with Tony Ferguson, but the battle was once again canceled.
And in order not to waste time, he decided to measure his strength with the UFC debutant in the person of Horcher.
As a result, he performed brightly and won the victory, publicly declaring his full recovery from knee injuries.