Islam Makhachev drops Honest Confession about His Kids’ MMA Future

Islam Makhachev secured his welterweight championship following his bout against Jack Della Maddalena at Madison Square Garden back in November 2025. After about nine months, he buckled up to face Ian Machado Garry and defend his welterweight title. However, despite reigning as the two-division champion, he doesn't want his kids to join the sport for a surprising reason.

Islam Makhachev Doesn't Want His Kids to be Fighters 

Islam Makhachev is a father of three children. He has a daughter who is the elder sister to two of his younger boys. The Dagestani fighter has kept his personal life away from the public eye.

During a podcast session with Demetrious Johnson, when Makhachev was asked about his kids, he just added, “Three… girl, boy, boy.” He has not even publicly shared the names of his wife or children. However, in the UFC 330 pre-fight press conference, he shared his intention for his kids’ future.

“For future, I don't know. I don't want my kids to be like fighters. Maybe for sure in Dagestan, when you go to the school, you have to go wrestling or somewhere. They're not training, but we'll see. If they want, I just not stop them, you know, I just help them. But I don't want my kids to be some professional fighters or like some other sports,” shared the 28-1 fighter.

Sharing the reason behind his opinion, he added, “When I grew up and my mother and father always far from me, you know, because I always traveling, always like in training camp, fighting. But I want to stay with my kids.”

However, it's not just Makhachev who doesn't want his kids to have a future in MMA. His cornerman, Khabib Nurmagomedov, with whom he shares a strong bond of brotherhood, too, shared a similar feeling a few years back.

Khabib Nurmagomedov Reveals Why he doesn't Want his Son to Become MMA Fighter

While Khabib Nurmagomedov shared that his son is receiving wrestling and MMA training from a very tender age, he also shared that he doesn't want him to become a professional fighter.

“Once when I came home, he fell asleep grabbing my belt. I suppose it’s a good sign, even though he was less than a year old and I don’t suppose he knows what he was doing. Honestly, I don’t want him to go through all what I went through because in fighting most people don’t see the inside,” shared Khabib per Low Kick MMA.

Nurmagomedov shared how his son started training at just 3 and a half years, which is earlier than he did. “He started walking on the mat because we have a gym at home, my son is already training and doing gymnastics,” he added. 

He doesn't want them to join the sport as ‘The Eagle’ believes, “They only see a picture and video tapes, my walkout and my fight but they don’t see the 25 years of work that I went through. How many surgeries I had on my knee, back, hand and ribs. How I almost died while cutting weight. I would like him to do Olympic kind of sport, not sambo but wrestling.”