Islam Makhachev

Makhachev is married and has three children, an older daughter and two sons.

He grew up in Burshi, a remote village in Dagestan. His father grew tomatoes and worked as a driver, while his mother ran a small café.

Makhachev began practicing taekwondo at age seven under Seyfula Magomedov before moving to sanda and freestyle wrestling. He later trained in mixed martial arts under Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov after learning that Khabib Nurmagomedov, whom he had met during school, was already a professional fighter.

He won the Russian National Combat Sambo Championship at 74 kilograms in 2014 and 2016, then took gold at the 2016 World Combat Sambo Championship in Sofia. He defeated Bulgaria's Valentin Benishev 7-0 in the final. He is also an International Master of Sport in combat sambo and studied physical education and sports at Dagestan State University.

Makhachev began his professional mixed martial arts career in 2010 and made his M-1 Global debut in 2011 with a first-round knockout of Tengiz Khuchua. He added victories over Mansour Barnaoui, Rander Junio, Yuri Ivlev, and Ivica Trušček before signing with the UFC in 2014.

He submitted Leo Kuntz in his UFC debut at UFC 187 in May 2015. His only professional loss came later that year, when Adriano Martins stopped him by first-round knockout at UFC 192. Makhachev then rebuilt his record with victories over Chris Wade, Nik Lentz, Gleison Tibau, Kajan Johnson, Arman Tsarukyan, and Davi Ramos.

Makhachev's rise to the lightweight title accelerated with submission victories over Drew Dober, Thiago Moisés, and Dan Hooker, followed by a first-round stoppage of Bobby Green. He defeated Charles Oliveira by arm-triangle choke at UFC 280 on 22 October 2022 to win the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship.

He defended the belt against Alexander Volkanovski by unanimous decision at UFC 284 and stopped Volkanovski with a first-round head-kick knockout in their rematch at UFC 294. Makhachev then submitted Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 and Renato Moicano at UFC 311. His four successful lightweight title defenses established UFC records for consecutive and total lightweight title defenses, and he later vacated the championship after moving to welterweight.

Makhachev moved to welterweight and challenged Jack Della Maddalena for the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC 322 on 15 November 2025. He won by unanimous decision in his welterweight debut and became the eleventh two-division champion in UFC history.

He made his first welterweight title defense against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 on 15 August 2026, winning another five-round unanimous decision. The victory extended his winning streak to 17 fights, the longest in UFC history.

Makhachev's style is rooted in combat sambo, positional control, chain wrestling, and sustained ground pressure. He commonly uses trips and body locks to take opponents down, then advances through dominant positions before attacking with submissions, particularly the arm-triangle choke. He has also developed a measured striking game built around feints, southpaw kicks, and the jab.

The UFC lists him with five knockout victories and 13 submission victories. He holds a 17-fight UFC winning streak, a 91 percent takedown-defense rate, and a 59.5 percent significant-strike accuracy rate in UFC lightweight competition.

Makhachev is credited as an actor in Countdown to UFC from 2011, UFC 294 from 2023, and the video game EA Sports UFC 6 from 2026. These credits extend his public profile beyond competition in the octagon.