The lightweight title picture continues to be murky.
Earlier this year, Islam Makhachev vacated his lightweight title to move up to welterweight and pursue a second belt. On Saturday, he accomplished his goal,
dominating Jack Della Maddalena in the main event of UFC 322. The performance was roundly praised, including by lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett, who reacted to the bout on his YouTube channel .
“Pound for pound No. 1, lad. Unbelievable performance,” Pimblett said. “I think he goes down as one of the best ever.”
“He mentioned the White House, but I think he’ll defend his belt before the White House. The White House isn’t until July, is it? Let’s see what happens. You never know. Ilia’s been saying he wants to go up and fight him, but you’ve got other contenders there now. [Michael] Morales, [Carlos] Prates, you’ve then got Ian Garry if he beats Belal [Muhammad] next week. Shavkat [Rakhmonov] as well, who needs to come back. He’s been the No. 1 contender for about a year. They’re all exciting matchups for Islam.
“The welterweight division, at the moment, could be becoming more exciting than the lightweight division. I don’t think any division has been more exciting than lightweight in over 10 years. Good times for the sport.”
But perhaps not good times for Pimblett. After Makhachev vacated his title to move up, then-featherweight champion Ilia Topuria dropped his belt to go to lightweight, winning the vacant title earlier this summer at UFC 317. Pimblett and Topuria have a long-standing beef, and Pimblett even entered the cage after UFC 317 to potentially set up a lightweight title fight, but thus far, that bout has yet to materialize. And following Makhachev’s win on Saturday, Topuria issued a challenge to his would-be foe.
“Jack needs an entire camp dedicated just to wrestling. What a disappointment of a champion. You should go to Georgia to learn something.
“Islam, you need something you can’t train: emotion. You’re the most boring thing in this game. Every day I’m more certain I put you to sleep.”
With Makhachev saying he’s open to defending against Topuria if the UFC wants it, that leaves Pimblett’s contender status up in the air. But “The Baddy” is keeping things simple.
“All for me now is, let’s see what’s happening with Islam, because is Ilia going to stick to his word and he’s saying he’s going to move up, or is he going to stick to his other word and say he’s going to fight me next?” Pimblett said. “We don’t know what’s happening, do we? You never know, I could end up fighting Ilia, could end up finally fighting Justin Gaethje. … But no one knows what’s happening, do they? Until Islam decides what he’s doing, because I know Ilia’s saying he wants to fight him. But I’ll be fighting early next year, no matter who it is, I’ll have an opponent.”
TOP STORIES
Champ. Islam Makhachev responds to Ilia Topuria, Michael Morales callouts: ‘I will make it easy.’
Brawl. Dana White blames himself for UFC 322 brawl, bans Dillon Danis from future events.
Bullet. Valentina Shevchenko is open to fight Kayla Harrison or Amanda Nunes, but also ‘good challengers’ at flyweight.
Critic. Chael Sonnen critical of Jack Della Maddalena after UFC 322 loss to Islam Makhachev: ‘I feel Jack underperformed.’
Fans. Bo Nickal explains why he gave double middle fingers to the UFC 322 Crowd: ‘I stood up for myself.’
Boxing. Dana White reacts to Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua rumors: ‘That’s a f*cking bad idea.’
VIDEO STEW
UFC 322 Post Show.
UFC 322 scrums.
Daniel Cormier reaction.
Reaction from Belal Muhammad.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
The new champ.
DC and Islam cracking jokes at Khabib.
Statements.
Thoughts.
There are one-year-olds who have never been alive to see Arnold Allen fight.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If the UFC books Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev, we’ve completely lost the plot. Both men have a half-dozen guys to fight in their weight classes, and Topuria is not remotely a welterweight. Please, stop trying to make “fetch” happen.
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