Former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria dropping the 145 lbs title for a shot at the lightweight crown must have caused some serious headaches at the UFC headquarters. Especially since lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and his team simply refused to entertain the idea.
Whether or not their vocal reasoning behind being against the pair up was real or simply an act to avoid a tough match-up, it forced UFC’s Chief Business Officer, Hunter Campbell, to fuel up his jet for a flight to the Caucasus mountains.
At the time, it was speculated that Campbell was there to speak to the light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev. And while there might be some truth to it, according to Islam Makhachev’s teammate, Umar Nurmagomedov, the situation in the lightweight class with Topuria was what truly concerned Campbell.
Forced to move up?
Umar, a former bantamweight title contender himself, and cousin to Islam’s mentor, the 29-0 retired lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, claims that Campbell’s primary goal for the Dagestan trip was to visit Islam and convince him to drop the title.
Umar first praised Campbell and noted that he was the kind of guy who was intently locked in and wanted to secure the biggest fights for the promotion.
And at the time, he needed Topuria to fight for the title at lightweight and proposed that Islam foray into the uncharted waters of welterweight.
“He flew out, and honestly, I don’t even know if I am allowed to say this, but they wanted Islam to move up. They want to make Topuria champ at 155 lbs,” Umar revealed.
The 29-year-old also clarified that while Islam agreed, it wasn’t his choice at all. But he, too, had a part to play in the ever-shifting dynamics of the UFC roster.
“Not because Islam wants to move up, but because they want him to be champ there (170 lbs). They believe he can really sell fights,” he noted, adding, “The plan was, if Belal won, Islam would defend his title at 155… against Topuria at lightweight. But now Belal’s out of the picture, Islam will likely move up to 170 lbs and become a double champ, InshaAllah.”
The prospect of becoming a double champ does sound enticing. But with Charles Oliveira vs Topuria already scheduled for UFC 317, it may be a pipe dream.
Well, not according to Umar, it doesn’t!
Umar reveals Islam’s plan and aspirations
“For Islam to truly have a legacy… He’s already made his mark at lightweight. But from an athletic standpoint, grabbing that 170 lbs title would be another major milestone,” Umar asserted, noting that should he win the title at 170 lbs, he plans on coming down to fight for the 155 lbs title to become a double champion!
But what about Islam boasting about fighting at middleweight? Well, according to Umar, that is him being a bit silly.
“No, he doesn’t weigh that much. During camp, he maxed out at like 86 kilos(189.5 lbs). So now, he’s got to bulk up if he wants to move to 170 lbs. To fight at 170 lbs, yeah — needs to add muscle. He needs to gain some serious mass,” he said of Islam’s welterweight preparations.
“To fight at 170 lbs is one thing. But to fight at 185 lbs, when you only way 189 lbs? Cutting 2 kilos (4 lbs) to make 185 — that’s just not realistic,” claimed the former bantamweight title contender.
Notably, Islam has already started bulking up and adding muscle to fight Jack Della Maddalena. That’s for the welterweight title sometime by the end of this calendar year.
