Morning report: Islam Makhachev reveals partially torn ligaments in hand, return date “doubtful”

Islam Makhachev may miss his desired return date.

The UFC lightweight champion is as good as any fighter on the planet. Well, that's an understatement. He Better According to most in the sport, who consider him the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time, Makhachev has been on the throne longer than any other fighter on the planet. No current UFC champion has held the title longer than Makhachev. As of the publication of this article, Makhachev has been on the throne for 646 days.

The 32-year-old Makhachev faced longtime fan favorite and 155-pound boxing legend Dustin Poirier in his final title defense last month at UFC 302. Makhachev, who tied the division record with three wins as champion, submitted “The Diamond” via Bravo choke in the fifth round. Unfortunately, he did not come away without serious injuries.

“After the fight, my fist hurt a lot. It hurt in a lot of places,” Makhachev told Ushatayka (via MMA Mania ). “It will take time. I'm slowly getting better, but my hand still hurts. I recently had an MRI and it showed that I have a partially torn ligament. We'll see if I can recover. If not, I might need surgery.”

Makhachev has a record of 27 fights (26-1) and has not suffered any major injuries, so this is particularly unfortunate timing for the champion, who was hoping to fulfill his dream of fighting at Madison Square Garden in New York this November.

It was reported a month ago that Makhachev could potentially return at the Abu Dhabi PPV for UFC 308 if he doesn't fight in “The Big Apple.” Following this injury update, that possibility seems even less likely, unless his recovery is quick.

“Well, that's questionable,” Makhachev said of his timeline. “We haven't discussed a fight yet. Right now I'm doing my rehab every day, and we'll see how my hand goes.”

“I want to play before the end of the year. I intend to. At the moment, I've never even thought about not playing. But I want to be in shape and ready so I don't have to worry about anything. I had a lot of little injuries before my last fight and everything just piled up. I want to give my body time to recover.”

Fortunately for number one contender Arman Tsarukyan, having some grace period before a potential rematch with the current champion may work to his advantage. Tsarukyan is currently serving a nine-month suspension from the NAC for an altercation with a fan at April's UFC 300. As a result of the suspension, he is expected to release an anti-bullying PSA, and Tsarukyan's suspension is expected to be reduced to six months.

That night, Tsarukyan won a split decision against former champion Charles Oliveira.

departure. Dana White says Mohamed Mokaev's UFC days are over: 'PFL is getting a great unbeaten guy'

champion. Tom Aspinall: Jon Jones was 'crossing his fingers and toes hoping I lose tonight at UFC 304'

Patience. Belal Muhammad ready for trilogy fight with Leon Edwards three years after UFC 304

bitter. Dana White criticizes UFC 304, post-fight bonuses will never be increased again: 'I can thank everyone on this card'

strange. Muhammad Mokaev admits to tricking and punching Manel Kape: “I won't let anyone 'bully' me”

reaction. Curtis Blaydes makes first statement since handily losing title to Tom Aspinall at UFC 304

Spectacular. Manny Pacquiao and Rukiya Ambo put on a wild exhibition at Super RIZIN 3. Ryan Garcia takes on both

Bad guy. Paddy Pimblett reacts to King Green's win at UFC 304: 'People underestimate me just because I look like a 14-year-old girl'

$$$. UFC 304 Bonus: Paddy Pimblett receives special $200,000 payout

UFC 304 post-fight show.

On to the next one.

UFC 304 post-fight scrum.

Aspinall's match day.

UFC 305 promotion.

A complete battle.

RIZIN 48 trailer.

PFL fight week.

Paddy.

Poitan sub.

The more metal the better. Kudos to Godzilla for being the true biggest winner of the weekend. And it's great that the Olympics did the right thing.

Go on Twitter and use the #MorningReport hashtag or find any of my tweets with this hashtag and send me the jams you're really into right now and I'll pick the best one along with my daily jam pick and give you a shout out. You can also share in the comments below, which can be hard to sift through sometimes.

Insanity.

Oops.

bad child.

Huh?

Next?

scene!

fitting.

Almighty.

lol.

I missed that.

Of course, John.

Anik.

Practice makes perfect.

bullet.

For England!

victory.

Gram Kutteradze (12-4) vs. Jordan Vucenik (13-2); UFC Abu Dhabi, August 3

Jack Jenkins (12-3) vs. Herbert Burns (11-5); UFC 305, August 17

Mateusz Gamrot (24-2) vs. Dan Hooker (23-12); UFC 305, August 17

Casey O'Neill (9-2) vs. Luana Santos (8-1); UFC 305, August 17

Lisa Kiriakou (7-2) vs. Cynthia Calvillo (9-6-1); HEX Fight Series 32, September 7

Sean O'Malley (18-1, 1NC) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (17-4); UFC Night on September 14th

Alexa Grasso (16-3-1) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (23-4-1); UFC Night on September 14th

Brian Ortega (16-3) vs. Diego Lopez (25-6); September 14th, UFC Night

Daniel Zellhuber (15-1) vs. Esteban Rybovic (13-1); September 14th, UFC Night

Kyohei Hagiwara (7-9) vs. Ryo Takagi (7-2); RIZIN 48 September 29th

Naoki Inoue (17-4) vs. Kim Soo-cheol (22-7-1); RIZIN 48 September 29th

Sayaka Izawa (13-0) vs. Kanna Asakura (20-7); RIZIN 48 September 29th

Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza (16-3) vs. Luiz Gustavo (14-2). RIZIN 48 September 29th

Clayton Carpenter (7-0) vs. Lucas Rocha (17-1); UFC Fight Night, October 12

If you missed Super Rizin 3, you missed out. UFC 304 was fun, but it was a wild card in Saitama.

thank you for reading!

Last week's results:

Friday: In response to the question, “Will Mike Perry fight again for BKFC?” 95% of the 300 total votes answered “Yes.”

Thursday: In response to the question, “What sport will Francis Ngannou try next?” 87% of the 317 total votes answered “Mixed martial arts.”

Wednesday: In response to the question, “Will Kamaru Usman ever fight for the UFC title again?”, 74% of the 466 total votes answered “No.”

Tuesday: In response to the question “Who will win this weekend?”, 74% of the 514 total votes answered “Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall.” In the main event of UFC 304, Belal Muhammad defeated Edwards via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46), and in the co-main event of UFC 304, Aspinall defeated Curtis Blaydes by TKO (punches) at 1:00.

Monday: In response to the question, “Would you still see a Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight after Jake Paul's win over Mike Perry?”, 51% of the 335 total votes answered “No.”

Today's exit poll:

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