As the UFC 322 main event welterweight title bout between champion Jack Della Maddalena and former lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev inches closer, more and more fighters and analysts have weighed in on the fight.
Former two-division UFC champion and UFC Hall of Fame member Georges St-Pierre joined the list of pundits with his prediction for the UFC 322 superfight.
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“There’s a lot of factors to take into consideration. Islam Makhachev is moving up in weight. When you move up in weight and you’re trying to put on muscle mass, when you fight, especially the first time, he’s probably going to feel like he’s fighting with a backpack because you carry more weight. Your body is not used to it,” St-Pierre told Helen Yee Sports.
“If the fight goes into deep waters, it might favor ‘JDM’ because of that. Islam might get tired. However, I think, if the fight is a one-way fight and total domination it’s because Islam Makhachev managed to put ‘JDM’ down with superior grappling skills to finish him,” St-Pierre continued. “That’s the two ways I can see this fight finished.”
Makhachev vacated his 155-pound championship to move up to the welterweight division in pursuit of a second UFC division title. He’s ranked No. 2 in the pound-for-pound rankings. With a win over Della Maddalena, and achieving champ-champ status, Makhachev would likely move back in the top pound-for-pound spot.
Related: Islam Makhachev ‘feeling comfortable’ at welterweight heading into UFC 322
“I think I would put Islam Makhachev in the pound-for-pound because of the competition that he has faced in his weight class. Now he’s attempting something very different. Of course, if he wins, he’s for sure right now the pound-for-pound,” said St-Pierre.
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“He’s probably, in my book right now, the pound-for-pound already. If he does it (wins the welterweight title) it will solidify his place as the pound-for-pound right now,” the UFC Hall of Famer continued. “I think Islam Makhachev, in my book, if I’m totally honest and non-biased, I think he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound right now.”
