Islam Makhachev

Russia’s mixed martial arts fighter Islam Makhachev has been officially booked to face off Brazil’s Francisco Trinaldo early next year during the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event, MMAjunkie.com reported.

The fight between the Russian and Brazilian fighters has been scheduled to be held as part of the UFC-233 event in Anaheim, California, on January 26, 2019.

Makhachev, 27, (W16-L1 MMA, W5-L1 UFC)was reported to be involved in October 6 scuffle after the official fight in Las Vegas attacking Ireland’s Conor McGregor, while Makhachev’s teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov jumped out of the octagon.

UFC President White announced in mid-October that three of Nurmagomedov’s teammates were arrested after the melee for attacking McGregor in the octagon adding that "two of them, believed to be UFC fighters Islam Makhachev and Zubaira Tukhugov, will never fight here."

"At one point it was threatened that those who played a role in the mayhem would never step in the octagon again, but that’s been proven false with the matchup against Trinaldo [W23-L6 MMA, W13-L5 UFC)," MMAjunkie.com stated.

UFC Champion Nurmagomedov defeated Ireland’s Conor McGregor during the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 229 tournament in Las Vegas on October 6, defending his lightweight title.

However, after the fight in Las Vegas, a mass brawl broke out between the teams of both fighters, including Nurmagomedov, who jumped out of the cage and attempted to beat up one of the Irish opponent’s team members for insulting him.

Nurmagomedov announced in October he was ready to cancel a contract with the UFC in case his compatriot Zubaira Tukhugov was excluded from the list of the organization’s fighters.