đź‘€Islam Makhachev thinks he’s more likely to fight the winner of Belal vs. Shavkat for the welterweight title than face Ilya Topria in 2025:
“Topuria is meaningless. For what purpose? For the belt, for the money. I have the money, but I don’t need it. I need a second belt.”
🎥 @Shak_Fu ▫️
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— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight)
January 10, 2025
Islam Makhachev would rather move up to welterweight than face featherweight champion Ilya Topria.
Makhachev is scheduled to defend his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311 on January 18th at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Lately, Dagestani has been vocal about moving up to welterweight in hopes of becoming a double champion.
Meanwhile, Topria is considering moving up to lightweight after defending his featherweight title once. However, Makhachev has little to gain and is not interested in fighting Topria. It could be a big payday for Makhachev, but the lightweight champion is more interested in a second title. Makhachev believes he is likely to fight the winner of what is expected to be the next welterweight title fight between Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov.
“I, [winner of Belal vs. Shavkat]. Because Topria makes no sense,” Makhachev recently told Shakiel Majouri. “For what? For the belt or for the money? I have the money. I don’t need it. I need a second belt.”
Makhachev’s first two title defenses were against then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovskiy. Makhachev has since defended his strap with a five-round submission against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in June 2024. Makhachev would like to move up to 170 pounds, but he also made it clear that their close relationship makes that unlikely if Muhammad remains champion. .
Meanwhile, Topuria won the title with a knockout of Volkanovski at UFC 298 last February, and defended it at UFC 308 in October with his first-ever knockout of Max Holloway. ‘El Matador’ cited a lack of new contenders when making the case for moving up to lightweight. However, with candidates such as Movsar Evloev and Diego LĂłpez waiting in the wings, there is a possibility that the Spaniard will not vacate his title any time soon.
