‘He’s the f**king truth’ — Joe Rogan praises Islam Makhachev

UFC color commentator Joe Rogan praised Islam Makhachev after claiming the UFC Lightweight title by defeating Charles Oliveira on Saturday. Makhachev defeated the Brazilian fighter by submission with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of UFC 280.

Makhachev left Etihad Arena with a 23-1-0 record. Prior to the fight, the Russian Sambo champion had similarly spectacular wins, including a first-round KO/TKO on Bobby Green this February and another first-round triumph over Dan Hooker in October 2021.

“Islam Makhachev must have the most incredible squeeze. His squeeze must be out of this world ’cause you see how quick Charles tapped once he clamped that on him. I mean, poof!” Rogan said.

Rogan made the comment in a recent episode of his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The veteran commentator described Makachev’s Abu Dhabi performance as “methodical and dominant.”

“He submitted the guy with the most submissions in the history of the sport. And the way he did it, he was just so f**king methodical and dominant,” he said.

“And, Oliveira tested him. I mean, he got out of bad positions in the first round, got back up to his feet, hit him with some good shots. But Makhachev, he’s the f**king truth.”

After the win, the newly-crowned champion summoned Alexander Volkanovski, the reigning UFC Featherweight Champion, from the crowd and challenged him. Soon, former UFC double champion Conor McGregor took to Twitter to give Volkanovski some advice on taking down Makachev.

Makachev trains with and under former UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, a bitter rival of McGregor. The Irishman claimed that he had developed a system that could beat the style used by Nurmagomedov and, in turn, Makachev.

“Be a bowling ball. That’s how I’d do it as you. Your conditioning right now as I see it, I don’t know. But bowling ball style for you your best chance,” McGregor, who was defeated by Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, said.