Islam Makhachev has long had his eye on the welterweight division, and Saturday’s UFC 315 main event could determine his next move.
During Thursday’s UFC 315 press conference, it was brought to UFC CEO and President Dana White’s attention that Ilia Topuria had given an interview moments before, suggesting that the outcome of the title fight would determine who he fights next: Makhachev, the reigning 155lb champ, or Charles Oliveira.
All signs have pointed to Topuria’s involvement in this year’s International Fight Week card, though that is far from set in stone. In any case, the message seems clear: Topuria will fight for a title, it’s just whether or not it’s against Makhachev or Oliveira (and if against the latter, whether it’s an interim title, or Makhachev vacates).
The hold-up is that Belal Muhammad, who will look to attempt to defend his title at UFC 315 against Jack Della Maddalena, is teammates with Islam Makhachev under Khabib Nurmagomedov. He considers Khabib a friend, he said during this week’s media day in Montreal.
In any case, Dana White appeared to suggest on Thursday that the UFC 315 headliner’s outcome will very much dictate the fate of the lightweight division, in terms of the title.
“There’s a lot of moving parts right now, and yeah that’s pretty accurate,” stated White. Not exactly a resounding yes, more of a “seems likely” (that last part is us paraphrasing, to be clear!).
Later in the presser, White was asked if Ian Machado Garry, who serves as a back-up this Saturday, might himself be next in line. Not past Saturday (dependent on someone falling out), it seems, at least depending again on the outcome of Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena. “I don’t know, we’ll see how this whole things plays out. Anything happens between now and Saturday he is, but other than that, we’ll see how it plays out.”
It might seem clear as mud, but it also seems likely that it comes down to whether Belal Muhammad wins, and whether Islam Makhachev will step back from his dream of a second title to allow his teammate to continue his reign.
The full UFC 315 pre-fight press conference with Dana White and all the main event fighters can be found above.
