{"id":255964,"date":"2026-08-03T13:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/03\/he-is-not-a-fighter-that-needs-guidance-javier-mendez-hints-at-when-islam-makhachev-could-retire-from-mma\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T13:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:26:10","slug":"he-is-not-a-fighter-that-needs-guidance-javier-mendez-hints-at-when-islam-makhachev-could-retire-from-mma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/03\/he-is-not-a-fighter-that-needs-guidance-javier-mendez-hints-at-when-islam-makhachev-could-retire-from-mma\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;He is not a fighter that needs guidance&#8221; &#8211; Javier Mendez hints at when Islam Makhachev could retire from MMA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5199698\" data-slug-id=\"2816997\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Islam Makhachev defends his welterweight title in a couple of weeks against Ian Machado Garry. This will be Makhachev\u2019s first title defense in this weight class, and while he is expected to get a win at UFC 300, there are questions about his future.<\/p>\n<p>The Russian is 34 years old, and might not have too many years left at the top level. Many top athletes have seen a decline when they reach their mid-30s, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/islam-makhachev\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Makhachev<\/a>\u2019s coach, Javier Mendez believes his client can dominate till he is 40.<\/p>\n<p>Mendez was on <em>Submission Radio<\/em> and was asked about Makhachev\u2019s retirement plans. The Russian\u2019s coach claimed Makhachev would stop when he wants to:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAs long as Islam is having fun, and is doing what he loves to do, and he keeps destroying people the way he is going to be destroying people, I feel, I believe the ceiling is whenever he wants to stop.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline top\" data-tab=\"top\">\n<p>Get the latest updates on One Championship <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/mma\/one-championship-rankings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"top\">Rankings<\/a> at Sportskeeda and more<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mendez also believed that Makhachev could continue till he was 40, but his client didn\u2019t want to fight for so long:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI don\u2019t know, I made a speech about you could see Islam five, six years, and he goes, \u2018Coach, coach, quiet, I don\u2019t want to fight that long.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Mendez also lauded Makhachev for being in shape always, and added that he was an easy person to work with:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHe can is what I am saying, if he is healthy and his body can still do it, and Islam is not somebody who stays out of shape, he stays in shape and takes care of his body really well. He is not a fighter that needs guidance, just needs a tap on the shoulder and, \u2018Good job.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHe is the easiest person I have ever, ever, ever had the privilege of working with. The easiest by far.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Check out Javier Mendez speaking about Islam Makhachev from 24:13:<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/mma\/youtube\">\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Javier Mendez Usman &quot;Matches Up Well with Every&quot; UFC 155er! BIGGEST CHALLENGE Will Be Ilia Topuria!\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bdI7RJS1yV4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/mma\/youtube\" data-embed=\"bdI7RJS1yV4\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/08\/51f69-17857364932133-1920.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/08\/51f69-17857364932133-1920.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Is Islam Makhachev better than Khabib Nurmagomedov?<\/h2>\n<p>Javier Mendez has trained both Islam Makhachev and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/khabib-nurmagomedov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Khabib Nurmagomedov<\/a>. Makhachev was Nurmagomedov\u2019s protege while \u2018The Eagle\u2019 dominated MMA.<\/p>\n<p>Nurmagomedov finished his career with a 29-0 record, but despite Makhachev losing once in his career, some believe he is better than \u2018The Eagle\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw also believes the same. Dillashaw was on the <em>JAXXON Podcast<\/em> picked Makhachev to beat Nurmagomedov, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/mma\/news-former-two-time-ufc-champ-explains-islam-makhachev-beats-prime-khabib-nurmagomedov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">and he explained why<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to go Islam&#8230; I think he&#8217;s more well-rounded. His striking is better. Even though Khabib did what he did and put it on people, I think that Islam Makhachev has actually fought the tougher guys. He&#8217;s had the tougher, bigger opponents&#8230; He&#8217;s just more well-rounded skill-wise. I think he would have been able to fight off a little bit of that grappling dominance. They trained together as well, so he would have known what he had. I think he would have been able to fight off a little bit of that grappling dominance he had. And the striking could have worn him out.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/mma\/news-he-fighter-needs-guidance-javier-mendez-hints-islam-makhachev-retire-mma\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Islam Makhachev defends his welterweight title in a couple of weeks against Ian Machado Garry. This will be Makhachev\u2019s first title defense in this weight class, and while he is expected to get a win at UFC 300, there are questions about his future. The Russian is 34 years old, and might not have too [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":255966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-255964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}