Islam Makhachev’s next fight has finally become clear following UFC 315 this past Saturday.
In the UFC 315 main event in Montreal on Saturday, Jack Della Maddalena dethroned Belal Muhammad to become the new welterweight champion after a five round war.
Following the fight, Muhammad was trolled by Dricus Du Plessis, the UFC middleweight champion, after Belal Muhammad previously hinted at a future move up to 185lbs.
Ahead of the UFC 315 main event, UFC boss Dana White claimed that the result would determine both Islam Makhachev’s and Ilia Topuria’s next fights, as the two were linked to fight each other but Makhachev continued to remain hopeful of moving up in weight.
Islam Makhachev sends Jack Della Maddalena a defiant message
Islam Makhachev was in an awkward position coming into the welterweight title fight as Muhammad is his teammate so he was supporting him, however, he knew ‘Remember The Name’ stood in his way.
Immediately after Della Maddalena’s win in the main event, the Russian took to social media to declare his next fight will come against the Australian, stating that his plan to become double champion is on.
Although Della Maddalena isn’t teammates with Alexander Volkanovski, the two are close friends, and in his Octagon interview, the Australian stated that he wants to beat Makhachev for Volkanovski, after he suffered two losses to the Russian.
“You are not Volkanovski, I will show you different levels. Keep my belt clean,” Makhachev told Della Maddalena in a post on social media.
Volkanovski and Makhachev first fought in 2023 at UFC 284 when Makhachev very narrowly picked up the unanimous decision win in what was an extremely close fight.
Jack Della Maddalena responds to Islam Makhachev
With Della Maddalena completely open to fighting the lightweight champion in his first title defense, he issued his response to Makhachev in the UFC 315 post-fight press conference.
“Come and get it, come get it,” Della Maddalena responded to Makhachev.
Makhachev revealed earlier this week that he won’t be vacating his 155lb title in pursuit of the second belt and it is still unclear when he may return to the Octagon with his opponent now clear.