Makhachev's 'send 2-3 years Dagestan' quip echoes from PSG's locker room to Anthony Joshua

Islam Makhachev’s throwaway line to Daniel Cormier — “send 2-3 years Dagestan and forget” — has quietly become one of sport’s most widely shared in-jokes, with the UFC welterweight champion revealing that athletes from tennis, football, and boxing have all referenced it back to him.

Speaking to Adam Zubayraev, Makhachev (28-1) described a series of encounters that illustrate just how far the phrase has travelled. Novak Djokovic told him it circulates inside the Paris Saint-Germain dressing room — the 2026 Champions League winners — with players reportedly telling struggling teammates to get themselves sent to Dagestan for a couple of years. Former boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua went a step further, asking Makhachev directly whether he could print T-shirts bearing the slogan.

“Whoever I meet, any athlete, any level,” Makhachev said. “I met Djokovic, Djokovic told me that in the PSG locker room they say, ‘Hey, send him to Dagestan for 2-3 years.’ I’m not really sure how it spreads. Joshua, the boxer, comes up to me and says, ‘I want to go for two or three years, can I make a t-shirt that says 2-3 years Dagestan?’ I told him, ‘Of course you can.’”

Makhachev also acknowledged a more tangible side effect: a surge in what he called “sporting tourism” to the Russian republic. His gym, he says, is now regularly packed with visitors seeking either a photograph or a place in a training session — a far cry from the relatively obscure wrestling culture that shaped him and his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The original comment was directed at Cormier, the former UFC double champion turned broadcaster, as a piece of genuine advice about toughening up his children through the region’s renowned combat-sports environment. That it has since been adopted as shorthand for rigorous self-improvement across multiple sports says something about how Makhachev’s own career — built on relentless grappling and disciplined preparation in Dagestan — has resonated well beyond the octagon.

Makhachev is next scheduled to defend his welterweight title against Ian Garry (17-1) at UFC 330 on 15 August at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.