To the disappointment of fans hoping for a dream matchup, Islam Makhachev seems to be steering clear of Ilia Topuria – for now. Following Jack Della Maddalena’s win over Belal Muhammad to become the new Welterweight Champion, Makhachev has confirmed that his new goal is to become the latest double champion in the UFC.
This comes after months of speculation over a possible fight with Topuria as well as the Spaniard’s decision to vacate the featherweight title and move up to Makhachev’s lightweight division.
Makhachev’s reaction on X Twitter to Della Maddalena’s win was almost instant, making his intentions clear. “Time to become a double champion,” tweeted the Dagestani fighter. Riding the euphoria of his first UFC title victory, Della Maddalena was self-assured in response: “Come and get it.”
But Makhachev’s declaration has left Topuria‘s lightweight title hopes in a state of uncertainty, especially if UFC analyst and host of ESPN MMA’s Good Guy / Bad Guy, Chael Sonnen, is correct.
During their latest episode, Sonnen’s co-host revealed that not only has Islam claimed not wanting to vacate the lightweight title, the UFC brass has no intention of making him do it either.
“In the green room you [Chael Sonnen] told me Dana said he’s not taking the belt off Islam,” stated Cormier as he questioned what would be at stake at UFC 317 without the 155 lbs gold on the line.
“So what are Ilia and Charles fighting for? The Interim Championship?” he asked.
Sonnen: Ilia and Islam “lost in translation”
Reacting to Cormier’s pondering over a potential Ilia/Oliveira Interim title fight, Sonnen suggested that Topuria got the raw end of the deal with his attempts to challenge Makhachev for his lightweight title.
“And that’s what I’m wondering too. There is room within these statements. As I try to reconcile two statements: one being we’re not going to strip Islam, two being Ilia Topuria’s next fight is going to be a title fight,” he continued.
“If I try to reconcile those, there has to be room for somebody to have misspoke, for this was lost in translation,” the former middleweight contender added.
Sonnen explained that they were dealing with three different languages, but this is the news that the MMA media has been reporting.
Sonnen points out that the interim title should only come into play if the current champion is unable to defend. Ilia sacrificed his featherweight title to fight Makhachev, and that opportunity has been taken from him.
White surely recognizes that there must be worthy compensation for that now lost chance to fight Makhachev.
Crucially, an interim title fight doesn’t resolve the issue. Whoever wins, Ilia or Oliveira, it still forces Makhachev to reckon with the lightweight division’s top contender at some point.
“If Islam is well, if he’s healthy, if he’s here and licensed, you don’t have an interim title. You do what they did with Ilia Topuria, which is you take one belt off him and open up a new opportunity,” Sonnen suggested, adding that Islam was an honest man and seems intent on defending both titles, should he win against Maddalena.
“I’m not calling him a liar, I’m saying he’s not aware of what he’s not aware of. Nobody cuts weight if they don’t have to,” the ‘Gad Guy’ asserted.
