Islam Makhachev, the number five ranked lightweight, spoke about his upcoming fight with Rafael Dos Anjos.
"I don't think the fight with Dos Anjos will be an eliminator, because the Michael Chandler and Justin Gaggi fight is. For me, there was no better option than a fight with RDA. I myself thought I would be given a fight with Dariusz, and the UFC tried to arrange that fight in Abu Dhabi, but Dariusz said he wasn't going to fight yet and would be back in late December or January..." Makhachev said.