Islam Makhachev has bigger things on his mind than where he sits in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.
The now former UFC lightweight champion was displaced from his No. 1 ranking after Ilia Topuria scored a vicious knockout over Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 to claim the vacant title at 155 pounds. That win helped Topuria become a two-division champion after previously winning and defending the featherweight crown.
While Makhachev has been cemented atop those rankings for quite some time, he’s not
too worried about Topuria usurping him as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter because he understands how this sport works.
“Well, it’s marketing,” Makhachev told UFC Eurasia in Abu Dhabi. “They do it on purpose to [hype] up this fight that people were already interested in. This means they’re doing the right thing. We will fight for first place.”
Makhachev was expected to defend the lightweight title against Topuria had his friend and frequent training partner Belal Muhammad successful defended his welterweight belt back in May. In the end, Muhammad suffered a loss to current champion Jack Della Maddalena, which opened the door for Makhachev to finally move to 170 pounds so he could also earn the opportunity to become a two-division champion.
While a fight against Topuria could still happen down the road, Makhachev has his sights set on Della Maddalena and now he’s just waiting for a few final details to get sorted out so the matchup becomes official.
“Well, we already have 90 percent of the agreement,” Makhachev said about the fight. “Probably in November.”
November stands as the annual date for the UFC to land in New York City with an event at the historic Madison Square Garden arena. Rumors have swirled for weeks that Makhachev vs. Della Maddalena could potentially headline that event and now the Dagestan native has confirmed as much.
Nothing is finalized yet but it’s expected that the welterweight title fight happens before the end of 2025 and there are only two more pay-per-view events that still need headliners. One of those is the UFC card in New York City with one final event planned in December, most likely in Las Vegas.
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