Islam Makhachev has a six-figure grappling offer sitting in front of him. Bloody Elbow posted on X on Saturday, Nov. 7, that a former UFC star has put up $100,000 for a submission grappling match with Makhachev, and the outlet framed it as potentially his first grappling opponent being lined up. The post’s text didn’t name the challenger. No ruleset, date, venue or promotion was attached to the offer in what’s been published, and Makhachev hasn’t answered it publicly in anything available so far.
The timing is funny, because Makhachev’s name was already all over timelines Saturday for reasons that had nothing to do with leg entanglements. About two hours before the Bloody Elbow post, a statement attributed to President Trump circulated on X, shared by Aaron Rupar, Collin Rugg and others, saying Dana White had been offered the job of White House press secretary. The statement went on: “I have requested that he bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country, of Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris.” Nobody in that group has publicly signed up for briefing room duty, as far as the posts show.
There’s also some fresh friction in Makhachev’s orbit. On Thursday, Championship Rounds noted that Carlos Prates reposted a Makhachev quote from the UFC PI with three lying-face emojis and nothing else. Prates didn’t explain what he was calling out, and I’m not going to guess on his behalf. It does tell you that at least one welterweight is paying very close attention to what Makhachev says on camera.
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What’s missing from the grappling offer matters more than the dollar figure. The big open items are who the challenger actually is, whether it’s submission only or a points format, how long the match runs, and whether heel hooks are on the table. Each of those changes the matchup completely. A grappler who controls position in MMA gets nothing for holding top in a sub-only match. In a points format, a clean takedown and a pass still pay.
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My quick take: $100,000 is a nice number to tweet and a modest one to hand a fighter at Makhachev’s level, so this lives or dies on the rules. If the challenger wants this to be a real fight, he should put the full ruleset out publicly with the money, heel hooks included. Until there’s a name, a format and a date, this is a headline looking for a contract.
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