Islam Makhachev is set to face Bobby Green at UFC Fight night on Saturday 26 February 2022; this fight is the main event of UFC Vegas 49 and it will take place at UFC APEX. Originally Islam was getting ready to fight Beneil Dariush, but unfortunately Beneil got injured and pulled out just ten days before the fight. Bobby Green stepped up and took this fight on very short notice and saved the main event.
Islam Makhachev is ranked 4th in UFC lightweight division and Beneil Dariush is at number 3rd, and they were supposed to fight for the number contender 1 to challenge the champion. Ten days before the fight night ESPN reporter Brett Okamoto reported that Beneil suffered serious leg injury during the sparring and will not able to fight. After that news, UFC matchmaking started to find the next opponent for Islam to save the main event of UFC Vegas 49. Islam was already in a fight camp; he demanded the opponent from UFC as he was ready to take on anybody. UFC offered this fight to different fighters, but only Bobby Green agreed to sign the dotted line.
Bobby Green just fought two weeks ago against Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 271 on 12th Feb, and with this quick turnaround fight against Islam Makhachev on short notice definitely earned him the respect and support of UFC Fans; not only hardcore fans are behind him but casuals fans are also rooting for him. Bobby Green earned an impressive unanimous decision victory against Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 271, but he is still unranked in UFC lightweight division and many fans and analyst believe that he should be rank in top 15 at least after that victory.
This bout will take place in Catch weight (160 lbs.), because Bobby Green just fought few days ago and cannot cut the weight to the lightweight limit (156 lbs.). Fans are really excited for this fight as this is great stylistic match; Islam Makhachev is well known for his elite wrestling and grappling game while Bobby Green has the slick boxing and entertaining striking style. Some fans are calling this fight as the striker verses Grappler match, but it’s not that simple. Islam Makhachev developed a strong striking game to back his wrestling and grappling, he is very fast and accurate with his punches he threw a lot of powerful kicks to leg and body, but most importantly he is defensively very sound and hard to hit. On the other side, Bobby Green has wrestling background that he doesn’t show in lot of his fight, but his takedown defense and sprawls are on point. This fight has the potential of becoming the fight of the night, as both guys are mastered in their areas and will not shy away from fight.
Islam Makhachev is riding on 9 fight winning streak, which is second biggest streak in division just behind Champion Charles Oliveira’s 10 winning streak. Islam fought three times last year and finished all of his opponents with submissions; his most impressive performance was his recent win against number 6th ranked Dan Hooker at UFC 267; Islam finished Dan in first round by Kimura.
Bobby Green is also on 2 fight winning streak; he finished tough Al laquinta in first round at UFC 268, and beat Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 271. Bobby Green has been fighting for long time; he has 29 wins in his record along with 12 losses and 1 no contest. Islam is the student of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, Islam is Internationally recognized master of Sambo. He has 21 wins and only one loss in his mma record.
A win against Bobby Green will put Islam in championship picture, but in case of loss Islam will fall significantly in ranking, Islam doesn’t have much to gain from this fight. While Bobby Green is in win-win position, if he gets the victory against Islam his popularity will rise to the moon even if he lose nothing bad will happen as he won many hearts already.
