At UFC 330, Islam Makhachev successfully defended his welterweight title against Ian Machado Garry in a grueling five-round battle. The judges scored the fight 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47 in favor of the champion.
The win extended Makhachev’s UFC winning streak to 17 straight fights, breaking Anderson Silva’s long-standing record of 16 consecutive victories inside the Octagon. The Dagestani now boasts a 29-1 professional record, championships in two weight classes and the most title wins and defenses at 155lbs.
More importantly, Makhachev became just the fifth double champion to successfully defend gold in two different weight classes. He has also remained undefeated for 11 years, adding even more weight to his growing GOAT case.
At this point, plenty of fans already consider Makhachev one of the greatest fighters in UFC history, with some even putting him ahead of legends like Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre and Demetrious Johnson. But who, if anyone, could hand Makhachev his first defeat since 2015?
Arman Tsarukyan may have an answer, although his pick comes from a different era. The Armenian believes one former champion would have needed to turn back the clock to his prime to have a real shot at stopping Makhachev at 170 pounds.
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, the top contender at 155 pounds suggested that only a prime Kamaru Usman could have stopped the current welterweight champion.
He said, “I don’t know right now who can beat Islam (at welterweight). Only maybe prime Usman. But he’s gone, he’s (at) 84kg (middleweight).”
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There’s certainly some merit to Tsarukyan’s take. Usman put together one of the most dominant runs at 170 pounds between March 2019 and August 2022. “The Nigerian Nightmare” successfully defended his title five consecutive times against some of the best welterweights of his generation, including two wins each over Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, as well as a victory over Gilbert Burns.
Usman also put together a 15-fight winning streak, the second-longest in UFC history. On top of that, plenty of people, including Dana White, have rated him ahead of Georges St-Pierre when discussing the greatest welterweight of all time.
However, since losing the belt to Leon Edwards, Usman has not looked like the same fighter and has recently moved up to 185 pounds. Two of his last three fights have come at middleweight, including his recent loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC Oklahoma City. Before that, the former champion picked up a win over Joaquin Buckley in his welterweight return in 2025.
With retirement seemingly on the horizon and his long-running knee issues, it’s hard to see Usman making another run at welterweight gold, especially against a fighter like Makhachev. But prime Usman was a completely different animal.
Would that version of Usman have been able to stop Makhachev at 170 pounds? We will never know, but Tsarukyan clearly believes he was one of the few fighters who could have given the Dagestani a real problem.
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Kshitiz Kumar Singh is a UFC Writer at NY Fights with over three years of experience in sports journalism and content creation. Known for his sharp storytelling and passion for combat sports, he has written in-depth features on stars like Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, and Ilia Topuria. Before joining NY Fights, Kshitiz worked as a UFC Editor at EssentiallySports while currently serving as a WWE Editor at FirstSportz. His admiration for legends like Georges St-Pierre continues to inspire his detailed and engaging MMA coverage. Whether he’s covering the Octagon or the squared circle, Kshitiz is committed to delivering accurate, high-quality content. Outside the world of sports, he’s a dedicated cinephile, often found practicing monologues from his favorite Al Pacino films, combining his love for cinema with storytelling.
