The era of UFC double champs is over, or that’s what Dana White wanted us to believe, at least. The UFC president has made his stance very clear: if a champion wants to move up in weight, they will have to vacate their title or compete in both divisions with equal vigor. Ilia Topuria vacating his featherweight title was the first example of this.
Topuria’s plan had always been to fight for the 155 lbs title, but Jack Della Maddalena winning the welterweight title seems to have thrown a wrench in his plans.
Islam Makhachev has now announced a double championship campaign — asserting that he had no intention of vacating the lightweight title. So, what does Topuria do now?
According to Makhachev’s coach, Javier Mendez, the Spaniard could take on Charles Oliveira for the interim lightweight title.
“That’s what I would love, yeah of course,” Mendez noted, but reminded that at this point, nothing had been finalized.
“Again, we don’t even have a welterweight title in our hands so, let’s be real. You and I are talking fantasy MMA right now,” he added.
“Come get it!”
JDM Islam Makhachev pic.twitter.com/w2ugu5Tonw
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) May 12, 2025
However, it should be noted that Makhachev has already challenged Della Maddalena for the welterweight title, and the newly-minted champion has accepted the callout with vigor.
All that remains is for the UFC to make the fight official and figure out if they want to strip Islam of the lightweight title — an unlikely scenario.
Meanwhile, Makhachev already seems to have begun camp for the Della Maddalena fight, considering the importance it holds with respect to his career.
Makhachev’s legacy fight
It can be argued that Makhachev has already surpassed his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov’s legacy. As the fighter with the most title defenses in the history (4) of the lightweight division, he’s already gone beyond anything Khabib had done.
However, to be truly considered one of the greatest of all time, he will need to capture the welterweight title as well, preferably while he continues to hold the 155 lbs gold as well.
He has been eyeing double champ status for a while now, but the only thing stopping him was his good friend Belal Muhammad holding the title at welterweight.
Islam Makhachev finished all of his last 8 opponents in the UFC.
Will Jack Della Maddalena end Islam’s crazy run? pic.twitter.com/BkkdemesU8
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 12, 2025
“It would be a legacy fight for Islam coz his goal was to fight for that welterweight title, if it was available, meaning, Belal wasn’t there,” coach Mendez asserted.
But again, he was quick to render in some reality, talking about how it’s in the hands of the UFC and not in his hands.
Mendez was also hoping that the fight would take place in a neutral venue or somewhere favorable for his fighter, although with Maddalena already calling for a Perth fight, that seems like a long shot.
