UFC two-division champion Islam Makhachev is one of the most dominant fighters on the planet, but even he looks at Everest with a particular kind of awe.
The 34-year-old recently told journalist Adam Zubayraev that climbing the world’s highest mountain is something he genuinely believes he could take on one day, after sitting down with two Dagestanis who actually reached the summit. He called them walking legends and acknowledged that every single minute spent at that altitude is its own battle.
The Part That Actually Gives Islam Makhachev Pause
Here is where the story gets genuinely fascinating. It is not the physical brutality of the climb that makes Makhachev hesitate. His concern is faith. He says the thing he keeps thinking about is how anyone manages to pray and perform namaz in those kinds of freezing conditions at extreme altitude. For a man whose faith is central to everything he does, that is not a small detail, and by his own admission, that is the one thing currently holding him back from attempting the summit. He said:
“Climbing Mt. Everest is incredibly hard. Every minute is a trial… I always wonder if I’ll climb Everest someday. But the question that comes to my mind is, how do people pray up there, do Namaz? In that cold, like minus 30 degrees. That’s really interesting, actually. That holds me back a little, but otherwise I think I could do it too. Well, there is some desire.”
He would not be the only fighter in the sport drawn to Everest either. Jiri “Denisa” Prochazka has openly talked about wanting to summit the mountain one day, a goal that fits perfectly alongside his track record of solo mountain climbs, including an 18-hour ordeal on Mount Charleston, where he got lost alone and suffered frostbite.
What Comes Next for Islam Makhachev Inside the Octagon
Before any Everest conversation becomes real, Islam Makhachev has serious business to handle. He is booked to defend his welterweight belt against Ian “The Future” Machado Garry at UFC 330.
Garry has the confidence, the tools, and the reach, but Makhachev on the ground is a problem nobody has solved yet.
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