Like one of the strongest boxers of UFC at the moment, but Islam Makhachev has never been considered a popular boxer in the tournament. The audience pays more attention to him because Makhachev is a teammate of Khabib Nurmagomedov. Each match of Makhachev has Khabib supporting in the technical sector.
A recent statistic shows that Makhachev's matches have a paying channel (Pay Per View). Pay Per view for Makhachev has never exceeded 150,000 people spending money per game. This figure is quite low compared to other UFC boxers like Israel Adesanya or Jon Jony.
There are many reasons why Islam Makhachev's matches do not attract many viewers. One of them is the style of graphing of this boxer. He was very proficient in the object, but seemed to rely on it too much to win instead of striking like many other boxers.
Besides, Makhachev is not a “strong mouth” boxer on the media like McGregor. That makes Makhachev's image somewhat boring. This helps him focus more on training and competition, but turning Makhachev becomes a lack of trade.
In recent statements, Makhachev gradually changed. He constantly asserted he would win easily against Volkanovski. The defending champion Lightweight called the opponent “dwarf”, mocking the height of the difference between the two. Makhachev is also in very high form after winning Oliveira.