Islam Makhachev: sambo, top pressure and the longest win streak in UFC history
World combat sambo champion, former UFC lightweight champion, current welterweight champion and number one pound for pound: where Islam Makhachev's grappling comes from, how he finishes from the top, and what you can take from it on the mat.
Islam Makhachev was born on 27 October 1991 in Makhachkala, Dagestan. He is the UFC welterweight champion, a former lightweight champion, and number one on the UFC pound-for-pound list. His record is 29 wins and 1 loss, and in August 2026 he won his 17th UFC fight in a row, the longest streak in the promotion’s history.
Where his grappling comes from
Makhachev grew up in the same Dagestani school of grappling as his friend and long-time training partner Khabib Nurmagomedov. He was coached by Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, and after his death in 2020 by Khabib himself, alongside Javier Mendez at AKA in San Jose.
His main sport before MMA was combat sambo. He won the Russian championship in 2014 and 2016 and became world champion in 2016, at 74 kg.
How he fights
His style clearly reflects the Dagestani wrestling school: get the opponent against the fence or onto the mat, keep them there, and make them spend energy trying to escape from underneath. Once he’s on top, he rarely gives the position back.
The difference with Makhachev is how often he finishes from there. Of his 29 wins, 13 came by submission, 5 by knockout and 11 on the scorecards. Two submissions are worth studying for any jiu-jitsu student:
- The arm-triangle. He won the lightweight title in 2022 by choking Charles Oliveira, one of the best submission grapplers in UFC history, with an arm-triangle in the second round.
- The D’Arce choke. He finished Dustin Poirier in the fifth round in 2024 and Renato Moicano in the first round in 2025 with the same front choke.
His striking has improved a lot in recent years; his second win over Alexander Volkanovski came by a head kick. But the grappling is still what everything is built on.
Two divisions
Makhachev defended the lightweight title four times, a division record, then vacated it in 2025 and moved up to welterweight. In November 2025 he beat Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title, and in August 2026 he defended it against Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision. That win set the UFC record for consecutive wins. No next fight is officially booked yet.
What someone who trains three times a week can take from it
- Win the position first. Makhachev usually secures the position before he attacks a submission. He controls, he waits, and the finish comes from an opponent who is tired and has run out of options. Position before submission is one of the oldest rules in jiu-jitsu.
- Learn a few chokes really well. He doesn’t use many different submissions. The arm-triangle and the D’Arce come up again and again, from the positions he controls best.
- Grappling makes everything else work. The threat of a takedown limits an opponent’s choices and movement on the feet. The same is true on the mat: a good base gives you time and options.