If Not Ilia Topuria, Islam Makhachev Takes On Justin Gaethje: Ex-UFC Champ Predicts

Allan Binoy | 05/04/2025
Islam Makhachev (L), Justin Gaethje (R)

Who is Islam Makahchev fighting next? The UFC lightweight champion and P4P king is currently back in Makhachkala, following the period of Ramadan, getting back into intense training in preparation for his return bout. And as he trains relentlessly, the UFC is struggling to find him someone suitable- unsurprisingly at 155 lbs, it’s a problem of having too many options.

Ilia Topuria, the former UFC featherweight champion, having vacated his belt and moved up in weight, wants an immediate title shot against the champion for his debut fight at the lightweight limit.

However, with former 155 lbs champion Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje announcing their intentions to take on the incumbent, Topuria finds himself in a precarious position. On top of that, Islam’s lack of desire to host yet another former featherweight seems to have left the UFC in a lurch.

However, om an episode of the Pound 4 Pound Show, former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman outrightly ignored Oliveira’s contention to lay down two options for the Dagestani champion.

“Either you take on Ilia Topuria which I do think it’s a really really big fight, or I can see Justin Gaethje vs. Islam Makhachev, international fight week”, he noted.

 

International fight week seems the most probable return date for the champion, meaning he would get a long enough training camp for his next fight.

However, welterweight champion Belal Muhammad is also defending his title against Jack Della Madallena at UFC 315 next month. Should he lose the title, Islam would no longer feel the need to stay at 155 lbs, having run through almost everything the lightweight division has to offer.

It’s only his friendship with Belal that is stopping him from achieving his self-professed goal of becoming a two-division champion. So every lightweight contender would be keeping a keen eye on the UFC 315 main event.

In the meantime, Usman’s co-host Henry Cejudo has suggested that the only reason Islam hasn’t yet signed on to fight Topuria and get the debate over with already is due to his mentor and former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib doesn’t feel Ilia has earned it yet, claims Cejudo

Ever since the Spaniard announced that he was looking to challenge for the title, Team Khabib was very clear about where they stand. They don’t think ‘El Matador’ deserves a title shot without fighting a top contender in the division.

However, if that is the fight the UFC wanted to make, they wouldn’t refuse – this has been their official position, at least.

This has put the organization in a catch-22 situation.

 In conversation with Mike Bohn, Cejudo claimed- “I remember talking to Khabib, and Khabib said this, ‘It’s not fair for Ilia to skip the line and go after the title shot against Islam’…… so I don’t even think it’s going to be Islam’s choice, I think Khabib’s going to step in.”

 

This makes sense from Islam’s perspective as well because he has already fought a former UFC featherweight champion twice (Alexander Volkanovski), and fighting Topuria will just egg on the ‘weigh-bully’ taunts.

Post Edited By: Smrutisnat Jena
Ilia Topuria Islam Makhachev

About the author

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Allan Binoy

Allan Binoy is a MMA journalist at The SportsRush. Taken to the sport in 2015, thanks to a certain Conor McGregor, Allan has himself dabbled in the martial arts. And having graduated from Loyola College, Chennai, with a degree in English Literature, he has learnt to use his love for language to have a voice in the MMA community. Allan has been writing about the gladiatorial stories for more than three years now and has pursued excellence at a number of reputable media organizations, covering every UFC PPV in the last couple of years. In addition to this, the southpaw is also a semi-professional soccer player for Diego Juniors FC in Pune, playing in the Pune Super Division League.

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