Georges St-Pierre, 44-year-old UFC Hall of Famer and former two-division UFC welterweight and middleweight champion, has shared his method for defeating Islam Makhachev, the 34-year-old Russian current UFC lightweight titleholder at 77 kg.
Idman.Biz reports that the Canadian noted that it is possible to defeat Makhachev with trickery.
"To defeat Islam Makhachev, you need a fighter who can wrestle or manage his takedown attempts. If Islam takes him down, the guy needs to get back up and manage the distance so he can strike with him on his feet. I think you need a fighter who can pressure him with a lot of trickery.
There was a guy who gave Makhachev a lot of problems. He was from France and was my sparring partner for a while. His name was Mansour Barnaoui. He was one of my best sparring partners when preparing for fights... This (the one-on-one fight between Islam and Barnaoui - ed.), was early in Makhachev's career. If you watch that fight, you can see that it could have ended differently. Mansour's fighting style against Makhachev shows exactly how to fight (to defeat Islam)," - Sherdog quoted Sen-Pierre.