Before his UFC 280 title fight against Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov fired an unprovoked shot at Charles Oliveira in his latest tweet.
Islam Makhachev will face Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 280 next month. Oliveira technically isn't the champion, but he's been the best 155-pounder on the planet ever since he won the title by defeating Michael Chandler.
Many people have different ideas about how the fight will play out, and while Makhachev appears to have the superior ground game, counting out 'Do Bronx' has proven to be a mistake throughout his incredible 11-fight win streak.
Their fight in Abu Dhabi is arguably one of the most anticipated fights of the year, with other fighters, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, heavily invested.
Everyone knows that 'The Eagle' is Islam Makhachev's close friend and training partner, and as such, he will always support him.
However, some of his comments since the fight's announcement have been quite surprising.
Some speculated that the post was so out of character for Nurmagomedov that it was actually written by his manager, Ali Abdelaziz. The Dominance MMA owner is frequently accused of using his fighters' social media pages instead of his own to amplify certain messages, and this example appeared to be just that.
It was also reported earlier this week that Beneil Dariush will serve as a backup for the UFC 280 main event. Maybe that made Khabib think that there might be something wrong with Oliveira due to which the UFC are already planning backup fighters. Dariush is also set to face Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280 in a crunch battle.
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who is looking for another belt, is another fighter who plans to serve as a backup for the vacant lightweight title fight. When Dana White was asked about Volkanovski's plans, the UFC president seemed unconcerned, responding "sure."
As we get closer to the event the things are starting to spice up between Oliveira and Makhachev and we won't be surprised if we get to see more back and forth from the fighters camps until they finally meet on October 22nd.
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