Makhachev will look to defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title against
Ian
Garry in the UFC
330 main event on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in
Philadelphia. Ahead of his first title defense at 170 pounds,
Porrada Training Center coach Ronny
Markes has hailed Dagestan's ability on the mat.

Islam Makhachev's grappling advantage before UFC 330
welterweight title defense

Markes has worked with numerous high-level athletes at his Las
Vegas gym, including Johnny
Walker, Jessica
Andrade, Alexander
Volkov, Magomed
Ankalaev and Kelvin
Gastelum. Speaking to Sherdog, he offered insight into
Makhachev’s grappling prowess.

“I watched him train here at the P.I. against an ADCC champion, a
Brazilian more than 10 kilograms [22 pounds] heavier, under
grappling rules,†Markes said. “It was an incredibly tough session
and Islam only lost by two or three points in that grappling
spar.â€

The jiu-jitsu coach then broke down the Makhachev vs. Garry
matchup, emphasizing that the challenger's best chance of victory
is using long-range strikes and avoiding grappling exchanges,
especially considering how easily the Russian controlled former
champion Jack
Della Maddalena on the mat to win the welterweight title.

“Islam has the cardio to fight hard for five rounds,†Markes added.
“He made Jack Della Maddalena, who’s bigger than Ian Garry, look
like a white belt. If he manages to get the fight to the ground,
he’ll create serious problems. Ian’s best chance is to use his
reach and keep the fight at striking distance.â€

The
Professional Fighters League has finalized the lineup for its
July 31 event at UBS Arena in Long Island, New York, featuring an
11-bout card headlined by a lightweight title fight.

PFL New York is headlined by Usman
Nurmagomedov vs. Archie
Colgan. The card also features several notable matchups across
the main and preliminary cards.

PFL New York: All the details

PFL New York will see undefeated champion Nurmagomedov (21-0)
defend his lightweight crown against unbeaten contender Colgan
(13-0) in the main event.

In the co-headliner, top-ranked women’s flyweight Dakota
Ditcheva (15-0) returns after more than a year on the sidelines
against Denise
Kielholtz (9-5) in a bout with significant title implications
at 125 pounds.

The main card also includes a light heavyweight matchup between
Dovletdzhan
Yagshimuradov (26-8-1) and Simeon
Powell (12-2), while unbeaten lightweight prospect Amru
Magomedov (10-0) squares off against Angel
Alvarez (11-2).

The preliminary card is topped by a bantamweight clash between
Raufeon
Stots (21-4) and unbeaten Lazaro
Dayron (10-0-1). Elsewhere, Jonathan
Piersma (12-3) faces Omar El
Dafrawy (15-6) in a 175-pound catchweight contest, Sean Gauci
(11-1) faces Allan
Begosso (10-4-1) at bantamweight and unbeaten light heavyweight
prospects Moustapha
Diakhate (5-0-1) and Zacharia
Nishimwe (4-0) are also set to collide.

A lightweight
title fight headlines PFL NY: Tune on Friday, July 31 at 7 p.m. ET
on ESPN.

Other scheduled matchups include a light heavyweight bout between
undefeated Khabib
Nabiev (12-0) and Jamelle
Jones (15-8), a women’s flyweight contest featuring Montana
De La Rosa (13-9-1) against unbeaten Tatiana
Postarnakova (7-0) and a lightweight matchup pitting Chamy Delva
(7-1) against Levan
Khabalaev (4-0).

The prelims begin at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on ESPN App, with the main
card airing at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ESPN.

Makhachev recently gave two young men a stylistic makeover. He
started by taking off one's necklace and the other's bracelet. The

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion then
cropped off their curly locks of hair with a trimmer. The Dagestani
assured them that the new hairdo suited them better.

Islam Makhachev's Dagestan team tradition returns ahead of UFC
330

The close crop hairstyle is mandatory in Khabib
Nurmagomedov's team. The rule was laid down by the UFC Hall of
Famer's late father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who initially honed
the entire team in the mountains of Dagestan. Notably, Makhachev
had once been thrown out of the gym for having long hair.

Makhachev took to his Instagram Stories to showcase the only
hairstyle permitted in the team.

“Today, for these two brothers, we make good haircut. I swear you
look better.â€

Khabib also posted a video of his protege trimming their hair.
Makhachev shared Nurmagomedov's post with the caption:

“They didn't have to go to Dagestan. Dagestan came for them.â€

Makhachev (28-1) is scheduled to defend his welterweight title for
the first time against Ian Garry
(17-1) at UFC
330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.