Born in Souk Ahras, Makhloufi made his international debut at the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he finished 82nd in the 8 km junior race. He began competing at the senior level in 2009 and at the 2009 Mediterranean Games he placed fourth in the 1500 metres. An appearance at the Golden Gala meeting followed soon after and he ran a personal best of 3:34.34 minutes. He won his first national title that year and represented his country at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, where he was a semi-finalist. In 2010 he improved his best to 3:32.94 minutes at the Herculis meeting and ranked among the top twenty that year. He reached the 1500 m final at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics, but failed to finish.