The lightweight debate never really cools down. It only waits for the next spark. This time, it wasn’t a fight announcement or a heated press exchange, but rather an old training-room memory about former LW and current WW champ Islam Makhachev that reignited a familiar argument about levels at the pinnacle of MMA grappling. Charles Oliveira’s name ended up right in the middle of it.

Not because he said something, but because when people discuss Makhachev’s supremacy, ‘Do Bronx’ is often used as a measuring stick. But for one former UFC champion, that comparison isn’t even close.

Luke Rockhold explains why Islam Makhachev is on another level

“Everyone thinks Charles Oliveira is good until Islam gets on top of him,” Luke Rockhold confessed on The Casuals MMA podcast, getting right to the point. No buildup and no hedging, just a statement that reframed Charles Oliveira’s strengths as conditional rather than absolute. But that’s not all. Rockhold went further, and that’s where the comparison turned harsh.

“Charles Oliveira sucks comparatively to really good grapplers,” he said. “He’s not even near.” The phrasing was surprising, especially given the Brazilian’s reputation as the leading submission artist not just in his division, but in the UFC. But ‘The Gorilla Killer’ wasn’t talking about highlights or finishes. For him, it was all about control, pressure, and inevitability.

Top Stories

Ilia Topuria Divorce Dispute Deepens as New Details Surface in Ongoing Extortion Row

Nina Drama Clowns Andrew Tate as Disrespected Ex-UFC Star Abruptly Leaves Mid-Fight

Sean Strickland Passes on UFC White House Opportunity in Yet Another Bold Confession

Ex-UFC Heavyweight Champ Engages in Backstage Brawl With Jack Doherty at Paul vs Joshua Event

Financial Crisis Hits UFC Rival After Signing Alex Pereira’s Sister & MMA Veterans

What separates the UFC legend’s opinion from loud debate is that it comes from experience. Long before he held titles and headlined shows, Islam Makhachev was a quiet grinder at American Kickboxing Academy. Luke Rockhold recalls using him in camp in 2015, when the Dagestani phenom was still relatively new to the UFC. Their AKA coach, Javier Mendez, had similar stories.

“He would come in my fourth or fifth round,” Rockhold recalled on the Jaxxon Podcast. “I remember he threw me one time, and I was like, ‘What the f—.’ I was a middleweight.” And that moment stuck with him because the welterweight champion was not scrambling or muscling through positions but imposing them instead.

“He definitely surprised me,” Rockhold explained. “He’s very tough everywhere.” So, when Rockhold looks at ‘Do Bronx’ through that lens, the difference is clear. Oliveira is dangerous in motion; Islam Makhachev is deadly all the time. When the Dagestani gets on top, he does not rush to finish.

He removes options, slows time down, and brings one to the point where resistance becomes useless. And now, he’s taking a big step up in competition as he aims at Kamaru Usman for his first welterweight title defense.

Makhachev gets warned about chasing Kamaru Usman

That same sense of inevitability is precisely why some insiders are concerned about what will happen next. Islam Makhachev‘s control-heavy domination has changed expectations at lightweight, but welterweight presents a different type of challenge. When Luke Rockhold discusses the Dagestani reducing options, he is referring to a process that works best when size and strength gaps are manageable.

Against Kamaru Usman, those gaps narrow fast. This is where Jorge Masvidal‘s warning comes in. After spending a little more than six rounds in the cage with ‘The Nigerian Nightmare,’ he sees risk where others see legacy. “I think this is the most dangerous fight for Makhachev at 170, man. With no doubt about it,” Masvidal said.

It’s not that the Dagestani lacks skill, but because Kamaru Usman remains calm when grappling exchanges stall. Usman understands how to defend without giving up position, and this alone changes the rhythm that Islam Makhachev usually controls. ‘Gamebred’ emphasized that this is not about dismissing other fighters. He simply doesn’t see the same defensive layers elsewhere.

“Usman can wrestle defensively,” he said, emphasizing the difference between surviving and neutralizing grappling. That is an important distinction. For the first time in a long time, Islam Makhachev may encounter someone who isn’t overwhelmed when battle slows. And if Luke Rockhold’s lens showed why Charles Oliveira collapses under pressure, Masvidal’s serves as a reminder that Usman doesn’t.