Right after coming out of intensive fasts for Ramadan, Islam Makhachev has arrived at a crossroads. One path leads him to the welterweight division, where he could try and accomplish something that even his legendary mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov couldn’t do. Clinch the 170-pound crown and become a two-division champion in the UFC. The other path expects him to stay back and defend his lightweight belt once more. But even that has started coming in interchangeable layers. One layer has Ilia Topuria written all over it. While the other one is pointing toward Justin Gaethje. And it’ll all go down with one decision – Will Makhachev move to welterweight or not? 

Well, Topuria will soon be regarded as a former featherweight champion trying to build himself as a competent lightweight contender and finally claim the championship belt. For that, he has been continuously calling Makhachev out. ‘La Leyenda’ even claimed that the Dagestani champion was scared of fighting him. And if it’s not Makhachev, the soon-to-be former featherweight champion has targeted Charles Oliveira. And that’s what he has been preparing for – a fight between champions, or a fight for the #1 lightweight spot. Topuria indeed faced quite a bit of backlash while trying to take a stance against Makhachev. But now, the hurdle seemed to get even bigger!

According to the Dagestani champion, giving ‘La Leyenda’ a chance to fight for the title would be an unfair act. He claimed that the Spaniard had to prove himself against the other contenders first, and then his way to the crown. Many, including ‘The Eagle’, have claimed the same thing. However, just like Topuria, Makhachev is also an ambitious fighter. It has been a long time since he first expressed his desire to move up in the weight class. But that, in turn, depends on Belal Muhammad. Being connected to Makhachev in more ways than just a common faith, ‘Remember The Name’ has already declared that he would change his weight class if Makhachev wanted to move to the welterweight realm. But, that’s if Muhammad retains his belt against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315. 

And the story seems to be heading that way. First reported by Alvaro Colmenero and posted by Championship Rounds on their Instagram handle, Makhachev is going to wait for the main event of UFC 315 to culminate and then decide where his fortune lies. And if the Australian 170lbs dethrones Muhammad, then the Dagestani would move up to 170lbs and fight for a second title. Moreover, there won’t be any announcement regarding Topuria’s next outing inside the Octagon until the Montreal PPV headliner is decided.

There’s yet another hurdle to the story. Like Topuria, Makhachev might have to vacate his belt if he wants to move to the welterweight division. And if he does not want to oblige that, he’d have to choose between Gaethje and Topuria for his next lightweight title defense. Well, sitting down to negotiate a fight with Topuria would arguably give more points to the Spaniard. Meaning, that we might get to see the war between the champions. 

But given the nature of their rivalry, Makhachev doesn’t care about fighting Topruia. He has already fought Alexander Volkanovski, a former featherweight champion, twice, and defeated him on both occasions. That’s why he was so unwilling to give ‘El Matador’ a chance at fighting for the lightweight belt. That is why moving to 170lbs would be a better move for the Dagestani considering his aspirations for a second title. 

Why is Islam Makhachev more likely to fight Justin Gaethje instead of Ilia Topuria?

Well, one of Makhachev’s reasons to move to the welterweight division was the lack of exciting and new opponents for him. While he wanted Topuria to prove himself first, ‘The Highlight’ was one of the fighters who were yet to face Makhachev’s wrath in the lightweight category. On top of that, Gaethje was the final boss in Nurmagomedov’s MMA career. Defeating someone like him would let him stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his mentor. 

Michael Bisping seemed to have the same thought as well. Taking to his YouTube channel, the color commentator said, ”Now, Justin Gaethje hasn’t fought Islam Makhachev, so that would be a fresh title… I think we would all sign off on Justin Gaethje versus Islam Makhachev… So there’s Topuria being dismissive, and there’s Oliveira talking s–t. Topuria needs to prove himself, apparently, according to the champ. Oliveira needs that last final fight to get over the hump to challenge for the belt and, in the meantime, you’ve got Justin Gaethje, a fan favorite, a company man that’s always putting on great fights.”

But do you know what Gaethje had to do according to Bisping? With Oliveira and Topuria trapping all the heat, he believed that staying low would ultimately make ‘The Highlight’ the winner and get him a title shot against Makhachev. That’s what the fighting community wants. And if Topuria desires to become a lightweight champion, he can certainly try and do so after Makhachev moves to the welterweight realm. After all, Topuria did claim that he could dominate someone like Oliveira. 

Nevertheless, the verdict about the fate of Makhachev and Topuria will be out pretty soon. All we need to do is wait and watch. Do you think Makhachev should give a chance to the Spaniard? Or will he finally realize his aspirations at 170lbs? Do let us know your opinion about the matchup!