Pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev’s recent comments have sparked buzz in the MMA community. In a recent interview, he showed interest in fighting “El Matador” at the UFC White House. The 34-year-old said:
“I like this idea [of facing Ilia Topuria] if UFC wants it…I’m ready.” [via Telegraf]
🚨😳 Islam Makhachev states he wants to fight Ilia Topuria on the UFC White House Card in June.“I like this idea, if UFC wants it…I’m ready.”👀 Dana White previously said the UFC have started to put together matchups for the White House card and will possibly be done by the…pic.twitter.com/CpRKiZa1La
Meanwhile, Topuria has been calling out the Russian, even before the 29-year-old moved up to lightweight.
Islam Makhachevand current and two-time interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje’s manager just made it clear that Gaethje will fight for the undisputed 155-pound title next, and Makhachev is also looking to defend his 170-pound strap against a “real welterweight.
Hence, if Topuria chooses not to unify the titles with Gaethje, then “The Highlight” will still compete for the belt against another top contender.
Ali Abdelaziz also added that if Islam Makhachev wants to face Topuria, it will ultimately be the pound-for-pound king who decides when and where the fight will happen. The MMA manager posted on X:
“Just to be clear @Justin_Gaethje is fighting next for the undisputed Lightweight title, and if Topuria doesn’t want, then Justin will fight for the undisputed title against whoever is next, and if Islam wants to give Topuria this a*s-whooping then he will be the one who will choose where and when, but Islam’s next fight will definitely be against a real welterweight.”
Check out Ali Abdelaziz’s post below:
Just to be clear@Justin_Gaethjeis fighting next for the undisputed Lightweight title and if Topuria doesn’t want then Justin will fight for the undisputed title against whoever is next, and if Islam wants to give Topuria this ass whooping then he will be the one who will choose…
Source: LowKickMMA.com
