Some fans have lately criticized Islam Makhachev for his decision to vacate the UFC lightweight title and move up in weight to pursue the welterweight title. Some of his detractors have gone as far as deeming it a selfish move, even accusing him of cowardice and claiming that he evaded a potential lightweight clash against Ilia Topuria.
American MMA great Daniel Cormier — who’s long trained with Dagestan’s Makhachev at the AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) in San Jose, Calif., U.S.A. — has now come to the defense of his longtime teammate.
Daniel Cormier on the Narrative That Islam Makhachev’s Welterweight Move Is Selfish and Cowardly
In a recent edition of ESPN MMA’s “Good Guy / Bad Guy” podcast, former UFC fighters Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen alluded to UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev’s recent announcement that he’s vacating his belt. Sonnen criticized Makhachev for his previous stance of not wanting to fight then-UFC Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad, as the latter is Makhachev’s training partner.
Sonnen implied that Makhachev chose to move to 170 pounds only after Muhammad lost his belt to current welterweight kingpin Jack Della Maddalena earlier this month. He jibed at the Dagestani fighter, asserting that his welterweight move is “a sign of cowardice.” Also, “The Bad Guy” lambasted Makhachev for supposedly avoiding a lightweight bout against the undefeated ex-UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria.
Daniel Cormier subsequently attempted to debunk the cowardice claims levied against Islam Makhachev. Within the 4:58-8:04-minute timeframe in a video on his YouTube channel, Cormier stated, “That’s why I disagree with my boy, Chael. I love Chael, and we have a lot of fun on our show. But you can’t call someone, or say they have that type of behavior when they’re doing that.”
“DC” indicated that Makhachev defended the lightweight title multiple times, faced opponents on short notice, fought challengers who came to lightweight from a lower weight class, and has done everything to show that he’s willing to put it all on the line.
Some critics questioned whether Makhachev’s welterweight move was selfish, as he’d be leapfrogging high-ranking welterweights into a title fight. Well, Cormier seemingly disagreed, saying, “[Islam] steps on the line every single time. This is the first time that Islam has honestly put his wishes above what everybody else wants. Because everybody else wanted him to fight ‘Volk,’ he did.”
He added, “When everybody was looking for him to fight Arman [Tsarukyan], and Arman couldn’t? Well, fight this guy [Renato Moicano], who’s No. 5, Moicano — dangerous, no training camp. He did, on a day’s notice. He’s always done it. So to say that it wasn’t a great move, in that regard, I don’t agree with that … Islam Makhachev is not afraid.”
Ilia Topuria faces Charles Oliveira for the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025. Meanwhile, it’s believed that the UFC would likely book UFC Welterweight Champion Jack Della Maddalena to defend his title against Islam Makhachev.