After Islam Makhachev made the decision to move up to the welterweight division following Jack Della Maddalena’s (JDM) win over the previous champion, Belal Muhammad; former featherweight champ, Ilia Topuria, accused the 4 x UFC Lightweight Champion of intentionally dodging him.
On June 28, another dream will come true. Iâll be the champion of the lightweight division. Charles, my apologies in advance⦠Iâm just fighting for my dreams. Itâs unfortunate that Makhachev ran away. 17-0 ð¹ pic.twitter.com/YSutHz4U2h
â Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) May 13, 2025
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However, never one to step away from a fight – literally – Islam responded in a heated fashion on X.
Difference between me and you, that I cleaned top list in my division, moved to next, but you ran away from two contenders who had consecutive 5-9 wins in FW division. You are nobody in LW division, just a big mouth from Spain with nice haircut. Go get one W, and we can talk boy
â Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) May 15, 2025
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Islam Makhachev Moving Up To Welterweight In The Wake Of Belal’s Loss
It has already been confirmed by Dana White that Makhachev will fight JDM for the 170 lb title, likely sometime early in the fall. But the question that remained for fans was what that subsequently meant for a possible showdown between Islam and Topuria.
Topuria, as the former undefeated champion of the featherweight division, knocked out Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in the span of less than a year before vacating his title and moving up to lightweight.
Had Belal Muhammad – a friend and quasi-teammate of Islam – beat JDM in last week’s title fight, Islam would have stayed and fought Ilia for the 155 lb championship at International Fight Week, in what would have been an attempt to rack up an unprecedented fifth title defense in the division.
Could Islam Makhachev Move Back Down To 155 Lbs After Fighting Maddalena
All signs were pointing to the champion moving up to 170 lbs and staying put at his new weight class, particularly since he has historically noted that he finds it difficult to make weight at 155.
However, his new message to Topuria, telling him to get a win first “and then we can talk”, certainly keeps Makhachev’s options open in potentially returning to his old division.
This would also be in line with a previous tweet sent by Makhachev, stating that it is time for him to become double champion, after Belal lost to JDM – despite being fully aware that he would have to vacate his belt when he moved up to 170 lbs.
Time to become a double champion #inshaAllah
Letâs goâ Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) May 11, 2025
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Obviously fans would like nothing more than to see Islam and Ilia, who continue to go back and forth on social media, finally hash it out in the octagon. And if both win their upcoming fights this year, we could be in store for a mega-fight between the pair sometime in the not too distant future – and with even more build up.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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