Imago
Credits: IMAGO
Imago
Credits: IMAGO
Looks like Islam Makhachev has joined his teammate, Daniel Cormier, in the misery of being robbed. Last year in June, after UFC 317, Cormier posted a video on social media from the San Jose Mineta International Airport’s parking. ‘DC’s brand new $225K worth truck that he had owned for just four days had been stolen. The San Jose Police found the truck a few days later. Can the Italian authorities do the same for Makhachev? Because what he lost in Italy was priceless compared to a truck worth a quarter of a million dollars.
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Islam Makhachev is taking time off from training and doing some traveling. He was in France attending the Paris Saint-Germain vs. Liverpool UEFA Champions League Quarter Final match, and later headed to Italy. However, the two-division champ’s journey took an unexpected turn, as the 34-year-old revealed he had been robbed.
Makhachev took to his Instagram story to share the experience, explaining that thieves had taken most of his belongings.
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“I was heading to Italy in a great mood,” Makhachev wrote. “But now I don’t like Italy anymore. I’ll tell you sometime how I got set up here.
“All I have left is this wallet and my passport.”
In a strange twist, the thieves later returned his passport. Still, the Dagestani sambo specialist noted that one particularly meaningful item remained missing.
“They returned my passport… nice robbers,” Makhachev added. “The most valuable thing in the suitcase [was] the football boots. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia gifted them to me after his last game. Thieves, if football isn’t your thing, I’ll take them back.”
Kvaratskhelia was one of the goal scorers in the PSG vs. Liverpool game that Islam attended at the Parc de Princes on April 8. The French team thwarted the English club, winning 2-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final. The Georgian star, who captains his national team and plays as a left winger in France, gave his boots from the match to Islam.
Makhachev and his teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov are soccer fanatics and huge fans of PSG. So, you can imagine the welterweight champion’s disappointment in losing those match-winning boots.
But the UFC star has found a silver lining.
Islam Makhachev says his suitcase was stolen in Italy 😕
The thieves really saw who the passport belonged to and returned it immediately 😭
(via @MAKHACHEVMMA) pic.twitter.com/TDYZg1IQop
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 12, 2026
“The prayer mat is still here. Don’t really need anything else. No need to worry, everything is fine, no panic,” Makhachev wrote.
Islam Makhachev hasn’t fought since his dominant win over Jack Della Maddalena last year to become the new welterweight champion. Although there were some talks for his potential fight against Ilia Topuria on the White House card, that didn’t materialize, with Makhachev now poised to face someone from his own division.
In any case, Islam Makhachev and Daniel Cormier aren’t the first UFC fighters to have been robbed.
Like Islam Makhachev, this UFC heavyweight was robbed
Let’s go back a few years to September 2023. Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane was competing at UFC Paris in September 2023. But unknown to him, he was being robbed of $162,000 worth of valuables from his home. Gane secured a second-round TKO victory over Serghei Spivac in front of his home crowd. But the win turned what should have been a triumphant night into a costly one.
And the details of the robbery are crazy.
According to Le Parisien, the burglars forced open the front door of his home in Nogent-sur-Marne early Sunday morning. What happened next? Well, luxury items, like jewelry and a Rolex watch, were all gone. Police were called. They arrived and investigated, but the damage had been done. Gane was down $162K.
What’s more, reports suggest the crime may have been planned. And it possibly involved prior surveillance. Gane, thankfully, though, was not home during the burglary and avoided confrontation. But the financial loss remains significant.
Moral of the story? Even if you are one of the most dangerous people on Earth, you aren’t safe from getting robbed. But fortunately, Makhachev got his passport back. Will the robbers be kind enough to return his boots also?
Written by
Edited by
Deepali Verma