Drew Dober knows he will get taken down by Islam Makhachev but confident he will “find his chin”

Drew Dober always had his eye on Islam Makhachev.

On the main card of Saturday’s stacked UFC 259 event, Dober is set to return against Makhachev. Although not many were interested in fighting the Russian, Dober was the one who asked for this fight.

“In all honesty, I think he is a hard person to find a fight for. Not a lot of people want to fight Islam. He has all that hype around him,” Dober said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “He has been on my radar since 2017. I’ve been eager to compete with him. They were looking for a fight for Islam and I raised my hand, that I would definitely fight him. It is a great matchup.”

Why Drew Dober wanted this fight is simple. He knows Makhachev has a ton of hype and a win over him would propel him into the top-10, but beating the Russian is easier said than done.

Throughout his career, Dober has struggled with grapplers which he admits. He also knows he will get taken down by Makhachev in this fight but plans on making the Russian’s life there as uncomfortable as possible.

“Absolutely. You can’t completely avoid a takedown. It will be a wrestling match with punches, I know I will be on my back at some point,” Dober explained. “I’m fully prepared for this fight to be a grappling match and I can’t avoid that. I’m just trying to make his life uncomfortable for the 15 minutes we are in there. Whether it is with my hands or feet, or my wrestling or my jiu-jitsu my goal is to make him comfortable and make him make a mistake.”

Although Drew Dober knows he will get taken down, he is confident he will get back to his feet. Once they get back to standing up, Dober believes he will find Makhachev’s chin and knock the Russian out.

“Honestly, I love getting the knockout wins for everyone so that is Plan A,” Dober said. “I see myself finding his chin.”

If Dober does end up knocking Makhachev out, he believes he will finally start getting the respect he deserves. He also hopes a win here can get him a main event fight against Rafael dos Anjos or Paul Felder next time out.

“It will increase my stock, it will get my opportunities to fight the top-10 guys. I just want to be able to compete with RDA, Paul Felder, those guys,” Dober concluded. “A win over Islam will open up the opportunities.”

Do you think Drew Dober will beat Islam Makhachev?