“UFC reached out to me, they were asking [Islam] to fight a main event in january. He thought about it, and khabib said 'hey, shut up'. Honestly, kamaru's name was in the mix for january. Ian garry's name was in the mix too.”

– via MMA Junkie, revealing that the UFC offered Islam Makhachev a January main event fight, with Kamaru Usman and Ian Garry floated as potential opponents, before Khabib Nurmagomedov advised him to decline.

“UFC reached out to me, they were asking [Islam] to fight a main event in january. He thought about it, and khabib said 'hey, shut up'. Honestly, kamaru's name was in the mix for january. Ian garry's name was in the mix too.”

– via MMA Junkie, revealing that the UFC offered Islam Makhachev a January main event fight, with Kamaru Usman and Ian Garry floated as potential opponents, before Khabib Nurmagomedov advised him to decline.

“But, in reality, this is not about me and Alex. This is about Magomed Ankalaev and Alex. Alex was the best man on Saturday night. And we take our losses like men....But, all along, I thought Magomed Ankalaev will beat him. And he already beat him once. And I believe, if they fight again, Magomed Ankalaev will beat him. There's a lot of things happened with Ankalaev in his camp...If it was up to me, he should never have fought this time. But he's a grown man, he makes his own decisions, and he lives by his actions. But for now, this is all I have to say. Congratulations to Alex and his team. Life goes on”