Islam Makhachev recently revealed that Tagir Ulanbekov’s cut to flyweight ahead of his bout with Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Qatar was the worst he had ever seen from a teammate.Ulanbekov opened the first round with his usual pressure, but his reactions and movement seemed slower than normal. Horiguchi repeatedly beat him to the jab and amplified the pressure.The end came in the third round when Horiguchi secured a submission after taking advantage of a weakened scramble. Makhachev said he saw the problem much earlier. He noticed swelling on Ulanbekov’s face after the first exchange and realized his teammate was struggling to breathe.Speaking in a recent interview at an airport, Makhachev said:"It’s no secret that Tagir is actually older than me. And I saw his entire weight cut. No one had a tougher cut than he did. Even on fight day, I talked to him before and after the bout, telling him he shouldn’t be leaving so much energy in the weight cut. Yesterday, Tagir showed maybe only 50% of himself."He added:"He walked out there, and after the very first exchange, he was already swollen and couldn’t breathe. Honestly, I even wanted to stop the fight. But knowing Tagir’s character, that he fights until the very end, I didn’t do it. He simply didn’t feel comfortable enough to go out there and fight. I think our team will sit down and make."Check out the X post below:Colby Covington picks the fighter who could give Islam Makhachev problemsColby Covington offered rare praise for Islam Makhachev after the Dagestani fighter moved up and claimed the UFC welterweight belt with a decision win over Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322. That being said, the American fighter claimed that Ilia Topuria could be his toughest test on the roster.Covington said Topuria has the style and build to make Makhachev work harder than anyone else in the division. He pointed to Topuria’s low center of gravity and strong defensive base as factors that can influence the outcome of the fight.Speaking in an interview with The Schmo, Covington said:“I think Topuria is the perfect fight for him. I think that fight needs to happen. Topuria has a low center of gravity, so he’s going to be very hard to take down, and when he’s not taking him down, he’s going to be punching him with all he’s got. So I’m hoping the UFC makes that fight next. … I mean, it’s tough. I don’t want to see Ilia go all the way to [170]. It’s tough, he’s going to be giving up such a size advantage, but we’ll see. I think 155 makes the most sense.”