Morning Report: Islam Makhachev reveals partial ligament tear in hand, return time is ‘questionable’

Islam Makhachev may miss his desired return date options.

The UFC lightweight champion is arguably the best fighter in the world, surpassing all others in the sport and being considered the pound-for-pound best. Makhachev currently holds the record for the longest reign among all current UFC champions, standing at 646 days at the time of publication.

In his last defense at UFC 302 last month, 32-year-old Makhachev faced off against fan-favorite Dustin Poirier, a 155-pound legend. In order to tie the divisional record with three wins as champion, Makhachev submitted “The Diamond” with a fifth-round brabo choke. Unfortunately, the victory came with serious injury.

“After the fight, my fist hurt a lot, a lot of things hurt,” Makhachev shared with Ushatayka (h/t MMA Mania). “We’ll take time, everything is healing little by little. But my hand continues to bother me. An MRI recently confirmed that I have a partial ligament tear. Let’s see if I can recover. If not, I may even have to have surgery.”

Despite managing his 27-fight career (26-1) without major injuries so far, the timing of this injury is particularly unfortunate for Makhachev as he was hoping to fulfill his dream of fighting at Madison Square Garden in New York this November.

If Makhachev is unable to fight in New York, there is speculation that he could make a return at a possible Abu Dhabi PPV event for UFC 308 one month earlier. However, this seems unlikely following the recent injury update, unless there are significant improvements in his recovery.

“Well, it is questionable,” Makhachev commented on his timetable. “We haven’t talked about the fight yet. I am doing rehabilitation every day now and we’ll see how the hand goes.”

“I really want to perform before the end of the year. I plan to, too. So far I haven’t even thought about not performing. But I want to come in shape, prepared, so that nothing bothers me. Before the last fight, there were also a lot of minor injuries, everything accumulated. And I want to give my body time to recover.”

Fortunately for the No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan, the potential delay in his expected rematch against the current champion could work in his favor. Tsarukyan is currently under a nine-month suspension from the NAC after an incident with a fan at UFC 300 in April. The suspension is expected to be reduced to six months as a result of his punishment for an anti-bullying PSA.

Tsarukyan emerged victorious in his fight that night against former champion Charles Oliveira with a split decision.

Departure. Dana White says Muhammad Mokaev is done in UFC: ‘PFL’s going to get a great, undefeated guy’

Champion. Tom Aspinall: Jon Jones was ‘crossing his fingers and toes tonight hoping I’d lose’ at UFC 304

Patience. Belal Muhammad willing to give Leon Edwards a trilogy bout after UFC 304 … in 3 years

Bitter. Dana White rips UFC 304, never increasing post-fight bonuses again: ‘You can thank everybody on this card for that’

Weird. Muhammad Mokaev admits he sucker-punched Manel Kape: I won’t let anyone ‘bully me’

Reaction. Curtis Blaydes issues first statement after UFC 304 quick title loss to Tom Aspinall

Spectacle. Manny Pacquiao, Rukiya Anpo deliver in wild exhibition at Super RIZIN 3; Ryan Garcia challenges both

Baddy. Paddy Pimblett reacts to King Green win at UFC 304: ‘Everyone underestimates me just because I look like a 14-year-old girl’

$$$. UFC 304 bonuses: Paddy Pimblett receives special $200K reward

UFC 304 Post-Fight Show.

On To the Next One.

UFC 304 Post-Fight Scrums.

Aspinall’s Fight Day.

UFC 305 Promo.

Full fights.

RIZIN 48 Trailer.

PFL Fight Week.

Paddy.

Poatan subs.

The more metal, the better. Props to the true biggest winners of the weekend, Gojira. And good on the Olympics for doing it right.

Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes!

Madness.

Whoops.

Baddy.

Ehh.

Next?

Scenes!

Fitting.

Almighty.

Lol.

Missed it.

Sure, Jon.

Anik.

Practice makes perfect.

Bullet.

For England!

Victory.

Guram Kutateladze (12-4) vs. Jordan Vucenic (13-2); UFC Abu Dhabi, Aug. 3

Jack Jenkins (12-3) vs. Herbert Burns (11-5); UFC 305, Aug. 17

Mateusz Gamrot (24-2) vs. Dan Hooker (23-12); UFC 305, Aug. 17

Casey O’Neill (9-2) vs. Luana Santos (8-1); UFC 305, Aug. 17

Lisa Kyriacou (7-2) vs. Cynthia Calvillo (9-6-1); HEX Fight Series 32, Sept. 7

Sean O’Malley (18-1, 1 NC) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (17-4); Noche UFC, Sept. 14

Alexa Grasso (16-3-1) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (23-4-1); Noche UFC, Sept. 14

Brian Ortega (16-3) vs. Diego Lopes (25-6); Noche UFC, Sept. 14

Daniel Zellhuber (15-1) vs. Esteban Ribovics (13-1); Noche UFC, Sept. 14

Kyohei Hagiwara (7-9) vs. Ryo Takagi (7-2); RIZIN 48, Sept. 29

Naoki Inoue (17-4) vs. Soo Chul Kim (22-7-1); RIZIN 48, Sept. 29

Seika Izawa (13-0) vs. Kanna Asakura (20-7); RIZIN 48, Sept. 29

Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza (16-3) vs. Luiz Gustavo (14-2); RIZIN 48, Sept. 29

Clayton Carpenter (7-0) vs. Lucas Rocha (17-1); UFC Fight Night, Oct. 12

If you missed Super RIZIN 3, you missed out, friends. I enjoyed UFC 304, but that was a wild card in Saitama.

Thanks for reading!

Last Week’s Results:

Friday: 95% of 300 total votes answered “Yes” when asked, “Will Mike Perry fight in BKFC again?”

Thursday: 87% of 317 total votes answered “MMA” when asked, “What sport will Francis Ngannou do next?”

Wednesday: 74% of 466 total votes answered “No” when asked, “Will Kamaru Usman ever fight for a UFC title again?”

Tuesday: 74% of 514 total votes answered “Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall” when asked, “Who wins this weekend?” Belal Muhammad defeated Edwards via a unanimous decision (48–47, 48–47, 49–46) in UFC 304’s main event and Aspinall defeated Curtis Blaydes via first-round TKO (punches) at 1:00 in UFC 304’s co-main event.

Monday: 51% of 335 total votes answered “No” when asked, “Will we still see Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson happen after Paul’s win over Mike Perry?”

Today’s exit poll:

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.