Outspoken MMA icon Chael Sonnen recently praised lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. He talked about Makhchev’s controversial statements regarding Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts. Sonnen gave Makhachev credit for his “heel move” in calling out on the BJJ black belt competitors in the UFC.
In the world of professional wrestling, a ‘heel’ refers to the antagonist or the ‘bad guy.’ A heel often employs provocative tactics to garner attention and stir emotions among fans. Makhachev’s verbal jab at BJJ black belt holders falls perfectly within this archetype, as he questions the credibility of the belt system in BJJ.
Sonnen said on his channel: “Islam Makhachev is one of the greatest heels in this sport. Islam said there’s too many black belts in the sport, I cannot believe…a lot of people need to give their black belts back. The media, they went right on this. ‘hey, what do you mean by that’ Islam said ‘I don’t have a black belt, I grapple all the time. But I can destroy all the guys that do. I can tap them out.'”
Makhachev boldly questioned the abundance of BJJ black belts in the sport. It was meant to be a sarcastic joke at the time, yet it had an instant effect.
Makhachev is no stranger to ADCC caliber of grapplers with Khabib Nurmagomedov bragging about Makhahechev submitting one a while back.
“Yeah, because I know like we grew up together like all our life, and I see how Islam go go with a lot of ADCC level guys even with ADCC champions – they tap.” – Khabib told media a while back as per calfkicker.
“They tap when when they grapple with Islam. I see 88 kilo 99 kilo 77 kilo – I don’t want to say name but they tap – ADCC world champion, you know,”
The Dagestani has recently delivered some of the most outstanding performances. Makhachev poses a danger to opponents in his division with his amazing hitting and wrestling abilities. He even made it look easy to defeat MMA veterans such as Alexander Volkanovski and Charles Oliveira.
The first remarks made by Islam Makhachev about the validity of the BJJ black belt were directed at Dustin Poirier. Poirier’s granby roll versus Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 served as the main target of Makhachev’s criticism. According to the Dagestani, a true BJJ black belt would not have committed such a mistake.
Even BJJ icon and ADCC silver medalist Craig Jones agreed with Makhachev’s position. According to the BJJ expert, a lot of competitors in the UFC need to lose their black belts.
