The UFC world witnessed the Dagestani wrestling-heavy fight style for the first time when Khabib Nurmagomedov took the UFC by storm. ‘The Eagle’ also amassed an undefeated 13-0 record in his UFC career prior to his retirement in 2020. But his departure didn’t mean the end of the Dagestani dominance in the UFC. Khabib’s father, the legendary Combat Sambo coach, the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, already had a plan to continue the reign of Dagestanis in the promotion. After Khabib’s UFC retirement, his bosom friend and his father’s favorite student, Islam Makhachev, took to the Octagon and started showcasing his prowess over the UFC lightweights.
Makhachev stunned the UFC world when he defeated the heavily favored former lightweight champ, Charles Oliveira, at their UFC 280 encounter. Currently, a lot of fans are awaiting their rematch at UFC 294 to witness whether the 31-year-old can repeat his feat against the Brazilian. However, his UFC run to date has proven to be convincing enough for the EA Sports authorities to add him as a playable character in the official UFC game. Owing to his 2015 entry in the UFC, Makhachev wasn’t there in the first few editions of the game. But his superb rise to the top didn’t allow the EA Sports authorities to keep him out of the game for much longer.
Is Islam Makhachev in UFC 3? Why?
The EA Sports authorities refused to include Makhachev as a playable character in EA UFC 3, which was released on February 2, 2018, despite boasting a commendable 4-1 UFC record at the time. Actually, it was his bosom friend Khabib who was taking the UFC by storm back then. Maybe Makhachev was happy enough to watch his bosom friend dominate the UFC’s lightweight division. Hence, he maintained a relatively lesser-known stature during this time.
Most fans might know that the official UFC games only contain a selection of the most notable UFC stars as playable characters. Thus, it was Makhachev’s buddy, Khabib, who made it into the list of playable characters in the EA Sports UFC 3 game. Avid players might also know that Khabib’s stats make him one of the best playable characters in the game.
Is Islam Makhachev in UFC 4? Stats and Comparison with Khabib Nurmagomedov
EA Sports released the fourth edition of the official UFC game on August 14, 2020. Most fans might have already realized that these were ‘The Eagle’s’ final days in the promotion, as he fought just once after August 2020. However, he continued his dominance in the lightweight division, which didn’t allow the EA Sports authorities to reduce his stats in the UFC 4 game.
But, by this time, Makhachev had also ramped up an eye-catching UFC record of 7-1. Further, he also started appearing on the main cards of noted UFC PPVs. The UFC 242 Khabib vs Poirier main event also had Makhachev fighting against Davi Ramos as one of the main card fights. Looking at his rising popularity among the UFC community, the EA Sports authorities decided to include the 31-year-old in their playable characters list this time.
Although Khabib was a much larger star at the time of EA Sports UFC 4’s release, he retired from the sport just a few months after its launch. On the other hand, Makhachev replaced him as the UFC lightweight champ after a win against Charles Oliveira at UFC 280. Hence, a large chunk of fans may not be surprised by the fact that Makhachev possesses even better statistics than Nurmagomedov in the UFC 4 game. Here’s a specific comparison between the UFC 4 statistics of the two Dagestanis:
| Khabib Nurmagomedov | Islam Makhachev | |
| Overall Rating | 5 stars | 5 stars |
| Striking Overall | 4 stars | 4.5 stars |
| Grappling Overall | 5 stars | 5 stars |
| Health Overall | 4.5 stars | 4.5 stars |
Despite being almost equal in every department, ‘The Eagle’ currently lags behind his friend Makhachev’s UFC 4 stats in ‘Striking Overall’ by just half a star. However, avid UFC 4 gamers might know that things weren’t like this from the beginning. The upgrades that EA Sports makes in the games to keep them connected to reality caused Makhachev’s stats to go higher than Khabib’s later on.
Will Islam Makhachev get a boost in UFC 5?
Most fans are aware that the EA Sports authorities have already provided UFC gamers with a window to try out the closed beta version of UFC 5. But not many of them could try it out due to the insane number of pre-bookings and the meager 7-day window given for the trial (20 September to 27 September). But Makhachev has bagged a lot more in his UFC career since the last upgrade in the game by EA Sports. Winning the UFC lightweight championship and securing himself as the #3 pound-for-pound UFC fighter is the biggest of them.
However, as of now, there are no reports about whether the EA Sports authorities have upgraded Makhachev’s UFC 5 stats or not. But looking at the 31-year-old Dagestani’s current UFC run, several fans might expect the EA Sports authorities to boost up Makhachev’s stats in UFC 5 to keep things as real as possible. Do you also agree with this? Which department of Makhachev’s UFC 5 stats do you think will have this increase?
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