Makhachev is currently riding the second-longest win streak in UFC history at 15 and can tie the record-holder, Anderson Silva, with a victory on Saturday. He also holds the most lightweight title fight wins in UFC history with five, having defeated Charles Oliveira, Alexander Volkanovski twice, Dustin Poirier, and Renato Moicano. His win over Moicano also broke the record for most consecutive lightweight title defenses with four, surpassing his friend and coach, UFC Hall of Fame member Khabib Nurmagomedov.
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Given all these accolades, Makhachev’s legacy at lightweight is already cemented. Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, he will go down as one of the best to ever compete at 155 pounds. On Saturday, he will face the newest welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddalena, who captured gold in May by dethroning Belal Muhammad at UFC 315.
In the co-main event, Zhang Weili finds herself in a similar position, having vacated her strawweight title earlier this year, which has since been claimed by Mackenzie Dern at UFC 321. While her path has had more bumps, her reign at 115 pounds rivals only that of the great Joanna Jedrzejczyk, a fighter Zhang defeated twice.
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