UFC 280: Islam Makhachev hits back at critics ahead of Charles Oliveira fight

UFC 280 star Islam Makhachev has hit back at critics who have gone after the quality of his UFC resume.

For the longest time now, Islam Makhachev has been pinpointed as someone who can do some serious damage towards the top of the UFC’s lightweight division – and it’s not exactly hard to see why.

The 31-year-old holds a professional mixed martial arts record of 22-1 and is currently riding an impressive 10-fight win streak.

He appears to be getting better with each and every passing performance, too, given that his last four wins have all come via finish, with the last two coming before the end of the first round.

Read more: UFC 280: Islam Makhachev says his 'dream' is to be like Khabib Nurmagomedov

Makhachev is evolving into the fighter that many always knew he could be, to the point whereby he’s receiving a lot of comparisons to his close friend Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Alas, there are always going to be haters out there, with the latest batch taking aim at Islam’s strength of schedule.

His last five fights have been against Davi Ramos, Drew Dober, Thiago Moises, Dan Hooker and Bobby Green, with none of them being situated in the top five.

During a recent interview, Makhachev explained why he hasn’t been able to get his hands on more elite competition.

“All my professional career, I have one problem. All these guys from the top, they avoid me for many years. But, this is not my mistake, I just fight who they put in front of me, I never choose some opponents and now this problem is gonna finish because now I’m gonna be champion and they’re gonna call me [champion]. 

“All my professional career I have this problem. I call [for a fight against] Chandler, I call Poirier, I call Gaethje, all these guys, but they not give me