Following Dana White’s Instagram live update, we now know what is going to be next for Islam Makhachev.
Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira is official for UFC 317 with White clarifying that it will be for the vacant lightweight title.
The UFC president went on to say that Makhachev has vacated the title to move up a division where he will face the new champion, Jack Della Maddalena, in the near future.
Fans have been expecting this announcement following the results of UFC 315 where Della Maddalena defeated Belal Muhammad which had big implications at 155 pounds.
The ball really started to move ahead of the promotion’s return to Montreal after photos came out on social media of White’s right hand man, Hunter Campbell, meeting with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Makhachev.
Ali Abdelaziz says Hunter Campbell earned Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev’s respect
Islam Makhachev stated after UFC 315 that though he would be moving up to the welterweight division, he didn’t plan on vacating his lightweight title to do so.
Clearly, the UFC was not keen on the idea, with talk of the promotion deciding to put a stop to double champions, as seen when Ilia Topuria dropped the featherweight belt earlier this year.
Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, believes that Hunter Campbell’s decision to go to Dagestan to meet with Khabib Nurmagomedov and the former lightweight champion in person was crucial to the smooth negotiations.
Tom Aspinall recently stated when talking about his own meetings with Campbell that the UFC prefers to talk about the major fights face-to-face, but Makhachev’s residence is hardly easy to reach.
Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn that this difficult trip helped earn the respect of Makhachev’s team.
“Honestly, If Hunter had not gone to Dagestan, I don’t think things would have been as smooth as they are. I think the culture of Khabib and Islam and these guys, our culture, when you have a guest, you don’t let the guest leave empty-handed.
“I think all respect to him. He went there, a lot of people told him not to go there, they think he’s crazy, I think he’s crazy also.
“You gotta respect the guy. It was a nightmare getting him a visa. He went there and said that it was the best experience he had in his life. I remember that Khabib really, really likes Hunter. They have a relationship [from] way back and I think he earned these guys respect.”
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When can fans expect to see Islam Makhachev challenge Jack Della Maddalena at welterweight?
Jack Della Maddalena emerged victorious at UFC 315 following a great fight with Belal Muhammad where the challenger pulled off the upset.
The new champion immediately made reference to a fight with Islam Makhachev but he did take some damage on May 10.
Fortunately, Della Maddalena has since confirmed that he hasn’t suffered any significant injuries and he hopes to return to training following a short break.
‘JDM’ told Fox Sports Australia that his ideal timeframe for the matchup would be “within the next four to five months”.
Della Maddalena also doubled down on his motivation for this fight, claiming that he wants to get revenge over Makhachev for his friend and teammate, Alexander Volkanovski.