Justin Gagey is adamant that he should fight Makhachev

Former UFC lightweight title challenger Justin Gagey is impressed with division champion Iscam Makhachev, but believes he will beat him in a potential fight between the two. "I'm next. I knocked Poirier out. Charles is ahead of me in the rankings, but we have already seen how he lost to Makhachev. I haven't fought him and I think the fans would like to see a new opponent against the champion. I think Makhachev will beat Oliveira the same way he beat Volkanovski if they meet again. I've said before that he's not like Khabib, but he might be. So I have to find out in the cage," Gagey told MMAfighting.com.

The American is on a streak of two consecutive victories. He knocked out Dustin Prie in July, and earlier in the year he outpointed Rafael Fiziev in three rounds. Former champion Charles Oliveira returned with a first-round knockout victory over Benelli Darish. It was his first success since defeating Islam Mahachchev by TKO in the second round. Immediately after the victory, the president of the UFC Dana White stated that the Brazilian should be the next opponent for Makhachev. The champion from Dagestan and Oliveira were supposed to meet at UFC 294, but the latter received an arcade just a week before their rematch.

This led to his replacement with Alexander Volkanovsky, who was knocked out in the first round by Khabib Nurmagomedov's successor in the division. "Can Mahachv be a victory? I don't know, but I have to do my best, as I always do. He is on a 13-fight winning streak and has been absolutely dominant, with the exception of the first fight with Volkanovski. In the rematch, he was looking for more stand-up exchanges rather than grappling and wrestling. That was smart because Volkanovski is like a bowling ball. It's hard to keep him on the ground. It was impressive," added Geiji.