Joe Rogan has long been a huge fan of Khabib Nurmagomedov and is an advocate for him being one of the greatest of all time. Despite his admiration of Khabib, Rogan has revealed why he believes Islam Makhachev to be the better fighter.
‘The Eagle’ is undoubtedly one of the best athletes to step foot into the octagon. A dominant lightweight that retired without tasting defeat, something unheard of at the highest level of mixed martial arts.
While Khabib Nurmagomedov’s ability to shut opponents down with his wrestling was far beyond what we had seen before, his predecessor, Islam Makhachev, has more weapons, according to Joe Rogan. Speaking about the Dagestani elite during a recent episode of his podcast, Rogan singled out Makhachev’s striking as the key factor in what makes him a different level than Khabib.
“Khabib is without a doubt one of the all-time greats,” Rogan said. “One of the greatest to ever do it.”
“But the difference between Khabib and Islam is Islam is elite standup-wise. Khabib was very good standup, but Islam knocked out Volkanovski with a head kick. That’s not in Khabib’s repertoire.”
After a razor-close first fight between the two, Islam Makhachev put his lightweight title on the line against Alexander Volkanovski for a second time at UFC 294.
Many expected the clash to be much like their first meeting, but Makhachev showcased his capabilities with his striking. A left high kick put Volkanovski down before the Russian ended the fight with a barrage of hammerfists.
This isn’t the first time his striking has been on display. Makhachev dropped Charles Oliveira before submitting him to capture UFC lightweight gold and subsequently put an end to Oliveira’s 11-fight win streak.
“Islam is on another level,” Rogan continued. “It’s like one more level above. He can knock you out standing, he can knock you out on the ground. He can submit you. He can take you down. He’s f***ing huge for the weight class, especially at 155.”
“There’s so many aspects, and you’re always thinking about that grappling when you’re striking.”
Over the past 30 years of its growth, MMA has seen a steady incline in fighter ability.
The early years saw specialists finding major success. A pure wrestler with no striking background could dominate his weight class, or a knockout artist could reach the pinnacle of the sport without truly being tested in all areas of his game.
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Today, that isn’t the case. The level of competition is much higher, and Joe Rogan believes we are in an era where the very best fighters reside. The new-age fighters know all facets of fighting before they even enter the UFC, and Islam Makhachev is leading the way for the current generation of fighters.
“There’s so many guys that you could learn from by watching, and they set the bar so high and that is the difference between watching, like, Keith Hackney vs. Emmanuel Yarbrough way back in 1993 vs. watching Jon Jones in 2025,” Rogan said.
“It’s like we get to see now these guys that have seen it all. The Petr Yans, the Ilia Topurias, the Islam Makhachevs.”
Petr Yan, Ilia Topuria, and Islam Makhachev are all prime examples of how far the sport has come in such a short time.
Makhachev has especially proven that you can still specialize in an area of fighting and, at the same time, have no holes in your game.
“You get to see the elite of the elite today, and these young kids that are coming up now, they get to see that and learn from that and incorporate all these things,” Rogan added.
“You’re seeing these guys that are fighting on Dana White’s Contender Series, they look world championship-caliber fighters, and they’re not even in the UFC yet.”
