All eyes are on Islam Makhachev as we wait to hear what’s next for the lightweight and welterweight divisions.
The obvious next fight for the 155 pound champion is Ilia Topuria, who dropped the 145 pound belt to move up. But Makhachev doesn’t want to fight another puffed up featherweight. He wants to be a puffed up welterweight fighting for the belt that was just won by Jack Della Maddalena.
But wait, there’s more: Mak also said he refuses to drop the 155 pound belt, which leaves the UFC in a bit of a bind because they need to move that division forward, preferably at UFC 317 with Topuria facing Charles Oliveira.
In a new video on his YouTube channel, former double champ and Islam teammate Daniel Cormier discussed the situation.
“Makhachev wrote, ‘The time is now to become a double champion, Inshallah, let’s go,’” Cormier said. “Those guys already know, ‘Hey, we’re gonna build this thing. We’re gonna make people tune in to this thing.’ We’re gonna watch regardless. It’s a fantastic fight. It’s a big time fight. And if Jack Della looks the way he did last week, it’s a very intriguing fight because we’ve never seen Islam fight up at 170.”
“We’ve never seen him have to compete up from 155 pounds. Yes, he is a big dude. But in terms of full on stature, is he as big as Jack Della Maddalena is? And also, if he thought he may fight at International Fight Week, how small had he gotten, and how much time does he have to put the weight back on the right way before he moves up to 170? Lot of questions.”
“Makhachev is open to bouncing [between 155 and 170],” Cormier added. “We have not seen anyone do this but Amanda Nunes — go up to 145, beat fighters like Megan Anderson and those girls, then go down to 135 and do what she did as the bantamweight champion.”
Cormier didn’t mention that he also defended the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight titles at the same time. He did, which makes him pretty knowledgeable when it comes to knowing what it takes.
“It seems like Makhachev thinks he can do the same thing. That’s difficult. That’s hard, especially once you get that belt at the next weight class. ‘Why do I have to cut the weight when I’m the champion here?’ It’s a very, very hard thing.”
If Makhachev is serious about fighting at 155 and 170, then the answer seems obvious: fight Ilia Topuria at 155 and then Jack Della at 170. If he wants the UFC to let him be a full on double champion, he should prove that he’ll be active enough to deserve it.
What actually will happen is unclear — Dana White’s right hand man Hunter Campbell just spent last week in Dubai and Dagestan trying to reach an agreement with Makhachev’s people, but nothing seems resolved. This is a game where both sides are hoping the other will blink, with UFC 317 on June 28th as the casualty if neither do.
