Makhachev put his
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title on the line
for the first time against Ian Garry at
UFC
330. While he retained his belt via unanimous decision, the
Dagestani champion was pushed to the limit and had to dig deep.
After his second welterweight bout, Usman claims he can beat
Makhachev if they were matched up.

Kamaru Usman backs his style against Islam Makhachev after UFC
330

While Usman acknowledges the new crop of contenders at
welterweight, the former champ believes he remains a serious threat
to Makhachev.

“There are really good guys coming up that are going to turn into
killers,†Usman said on the “Pound 4 Pound†podcast. “But right
now, being honest with you, with all the styles that I see and the
MMA mathematics… How it works out, I felt that, hey, styles make
fights, I'm telling you guys, I can get that done.â€

Usman was rallying for a title shot against Makhachev when the
latter dethroned Jack
Della Maddalena last November. Even Makhachev acknowledged “The
Nigerian Nightmare†as his biggest threat at the time. However,
Usman's lengthy Octagon hiatus saw contenders like Garry, Carlos
Prates and Michael
Morales overtake him in the pecking order at 170 pounds.

Usman (21-5) lost his welterweight title in a shock knockout upset
to Leon
Edwards in 2022 and lost the rematch the following year. Usman
then suffered a hard-fought majority-decision loss in a
middleweight bout against Khamzat
Chimaev.

The former champ then dropped back to welterweight and returned
after a 20-month hiatus to beat Joaquin
Buckley last year. After unsuccessfully rallying for a title
shot against Makhachev, Usman moved back up to middleweight and
suffered a unanimous decision loss against Dricus Du
Plessis.

Mokaev says he accepted four grappling bouts in a week against
former One
Championship titleholder Adriano
Moraes and
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweights Asu
Almabayev, Alibi
Idiris and Ramazonbek
Temirov. He alleges that all four opponents agreed to fight
him, only to pull out the very next day.

Former UFC flyweight Muhammad Mokaev details a ‘crazy week' of
failed grappling matchups

Mokaev eventually secured a grappling matchup against Moris
Boleian. They will compete for the ACBJJ 60kg Grand Title on Aug.
30 at Ora Arena in Istanbul, Turkey.

“It was crazy week,†the former UFC flyweight wrote on X. “Signed
to compete 4 names in 1 week (Adriano Moraes, Asu Almabayev, Alibi
Idiris & Ramazan Temirov) And they all too but next day the didn't
want to. At the end only this guy accepted.â€

Mokaev (16-0) has finished three of his four MMA wins and one in
Karate Combat since his UFC exit in 2024. The undefeated flyweight
is also active on the grappling circuit, where he suffered a loss
against a much bigger Arman
Tsarukyan in his last match. Meanwhile, Boleian (8-1) has
finished all eight of his professional wins via submission before
suffering his lone career loss via split decision at UAE Warriors
this past January.

ONE Championship

A rivalry that once defined an entire division may not get its expected third chapter after all.

Stella Hemetsberger retained her ONE Women's Strawweight Muay Thai World Title with a third-round knockout of Natalia Diachkova at ONE Fight Night 46, broadcasting live on Prime Video from Bangkok's Lumpinee Stadium this past Friday, August 14. The win pushed her ONE Championship record to a perfect 6-0 and earned a US$50,000 performance bonus for the finish.

With the Diachkova rivalry now closed at 1-0, attention naturally turns to former ONE Women's Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion Jackie Buntan, the fighter Hemetsberger beat twice on her way to two-sport gold. Hemetsberger sounds in no rush to run it back a third time.

“Honestly, after 2-0, I guess we do have a dominant direction in that matter of that rivalry. Jackie is a good fighter, I guess she's gonna fight again in ONE, and we'll see about that. Maybe in the future at some point, but right now after the 2 and 0, maybe some other opponent next,†she said.

Stella Hemetsberger rules out MMA for now

Hemetsberger has also shut down any near-term talk of a move to mixed martial arts, despite her growing case as one of the sport's most dominant two-sport champions. Comparisons to Stamp Fairtex's historic three-sport run have already started circulating given how thoroughly she has dominated both of her current divisions.

“MMA is not on the plan right now. I like to focus on the two disciplines I'm doing already. Never say never, but right now it's not on the plan,†she said.

For now, Hemetsberger says she is content simply choosing between her two existing divisions for what comes next, leaving both the Buntan trilogy and any bigger cross-discipline ambitions parked for a later date.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM