Islam Makhachev is making the move up to 170 pound to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title at UFC 322 on Nov. 14 in Madison Square Garden.
If Makhachev (27-1) is successful in claiming the welterweight title, it’ll be his 16th consecutive victory in the Octagon, matching Anderson Silva’s UFC record, and he already has a preferred opponent and venue for what he hopes would be the record-breaking performance.
Makhachev recently told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that if we wins against Della Maddalena, he wants to face Ilia Topuria (17-0) at the UFC’s upcoming White House event on June 14.
“I saw the [Oliveira] fight; he’s good,” Makhachev said. “I have a good fight now and I know [Topuria] is going to fight soon and we’ll see what’s gonna happen. He wants to fight at the White House, and I also want to be there. I know the UFC wants to do some big fight in the White House. Which fight is going to be bigger than this?”
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Makhachev is not exaggerating when he says a fight with Topuria would be among the biggest UFC could make. Topuria took the lightweight title Makhachev vacated in a dominant performance against Charles Oliveira to earn his second weight class title after previously holding the featherweight crown. Topuria also holds the top spot in our UFC pound-for-pound rankings, with Makhachev ranked No. 3 by CBS Sports’ Brian Campbell.
Topuria has stated he’d be willing to move up again to 170 pounds to make a fight with Makhachev happen. That would take away the biggest potential excuse from the fighters for the fight not taking place, allowing Makhachev to avoid the weight cutting that he cited as his reason for moving up to welterweight.
Still, making mega-fights is always more complicated than the two fighters stating publicly that they’re interested in fighting. That said, if Makhachev takes care of business in November against Della Maddalena, there will be a ton of pressure on Dana White and the camps for both fighters to get this fight made for the main event at the White House next June.
