The lightweight division is on its toes after Ilia Topuria tweeted, “the camp has begun.” And not too long after, famed MMA journalist, Alvaro Colmenero, reacted to the former featherweight champion’s tweet and claimed that, according to his sources, ‘La Leyenda’ would fight at the International Fight Week. On top of that, he revealed that it would be a fight for the title. This indeed put thinking caps on the fighting community. Is Topuria really going to fight Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title? 

Well, Colmenero had clarified that the Spaniard will not fight for the interim belt. And during his appearance on the JRE MMA Show, Topuria cleared all doubts regarding the fight for the position of the #1 lightweight contender, claiming it was the title fight or nothing for him. This indeed put Makhachev on alert with a possible fight against Topuria. The Dagestani champion’s public statements have often been a refusal to fight Topuria. The reason? He wanted him to prove himself as a lightweight contender before going for the title shot. But Colmenero has come forth with another vital update for the fight fans. 

Taking to X, the famed journalist wrote, “I can confirm that Islam Makhachev has already started a training camp for his next fight.” Putting two and two together, this could point to an imminent announcement of Makhachev vs. Topuria. But is it really going to happen? Taking a look back at JRE episode #166, the possibility of Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira does exist.

If we know anything for sure, it’s that Ilia Topuria will be one half of the International Fight Week. He will be fighting for a title too. As per Ariel Helwani, it could be for the undisputed belt against Islam Makhachev. Or a contest for the vacant title against Charles Oliveira. Why is that still hanging in the balance just two months away from the event?

Makhachev currently aspires to become a two-division champion. He has been expressing his desire to move to the welterweight division for quite some time now. But the hurdle with the move is a friend. Yes, that friend is WW champion Belal Muhammad, who’s set to fight Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315. Now, the rumors on the internet suggest that Makhachev is waiting for the result of Muhammad’s first welterweight title defense.

And if he loses, the Dagestani would rush to the welterweight division and fight for the title. After all, both Makhachev and ‘Remember The Name’ have refused to fight each other. But after Colmenero replied to Topuria’s tweet, Michael Bisping weighed in on the topic. Let’s see what ‘The Count’ had to say about it. 

Michael Bisping believes in the possibility of Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev superfight

On his YouTube talk show, the former middleweight champion asserted that Topuria’s next opponent will be none other than Makhachev. But isn’t Makhachev supposedly waiting for UFC 315? Well, Bisping said, “I don’t think Islam Makhachev is going to wait around on the sidelines in the hope that Belal Muhammad is going to lose his fight and then go up to 155. Khabib Nurmagomedov knows Belal very well. So does Islam Makhachev… And I don’t think those boys,  talking about Khabib and Islam, are gonna bet against him, which is what they would be doing if they were to sit around and wait for Jack Della Maddalena to arrive as an opponent.” 

Bisping emphasized that Topuria has been guaranteed a title fight. He has proved himself in the featherweight division and now wants to fight in the lightweight division. But the best part of that is he did not wish to freeze the featherweight division. He respectfully vacated the belt and moved to the lightweight world. ‘The Count’ continued, “This guy on Twitter, this journalist [Alvaro Colmenero], says that he’s got it on good authority that he’s going to be fighting for the belt. And I believe that. If anyone deserves a shot, it’s Ilia.” 

Nevertheless, things are yet to be confirmed by the higher-ups. Bisping admitted that these talks are nothing but speculations revolving around the existing data. But even if these are just speculations, the excitement around the fighting world is pretty high. 

What do you think of the update about Makhachev’s training camp? Do you think it’s to prepare him to fight Topuria at UFC 317? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.