Islam Makhachev believes the timing couldn’t be better for him to move up and challenge for the UFC welterweight title.
Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) last fought in January, when he submitted Renato Moicano—who stepped in at the last minute to replace the injured Arman Tsarukyan—at UFC 311 to retain his lightweight title. After four consecutive title defenses, Makhachev felt there were no exciting matchups left for him at 155 pounds and now plans to take on newly crowned welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena later this year.
"Right now it's the best time," Makhachev said during an interview this week with MMA Junkie. "I was waiting for (Arman) Tsarukyan because he also has very good win-streak and people were waiting for this fight. He pulled out of the last fight, and I don't see any interesting fights in my division. That's why we made the decision to move up because they have new champion, a good fighter in Jack Della Maddalena, and this fight makes me train every day and wake up early morning."
UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell recently visited Makhachev in his native Dagestan, and many fans assumed the trip was an effort to persuade Makhachev to sign on the dotted line to face Ilia Topuria, who recently moved up to 155 pounds after vacating the UFC featherweight title.
However, Makhachev insists that fight was never discussed. Instead, the focus of their conversations was on matching him against the winner of the recent welterweight title fight between Jack Della Maddalena and Belal Muhammad.
"Everybody think he comes to make a fight with Topuria, but he was here, and we talked about fighting against whoever the winner is between Della Maddalena and Belal. He told me, 'I know Belal is your friend, but this is a sport. Shake hands, fight, after the fight it's respect, and that's it. See who is the best in the world.' We had a big discussion about that," Makhachev said. "I told him, 'Let's wait for the fight when Belal fight with Della Maddalena and we will see what we have to do.' Right after the fight in Los Angeles (against Renato Moicano), Hunter came to my locker room and told me, 'Now is the good time, any day when you want to move up, you have the opportunity. Just tell us.'"
Like Topuria, Makhachev has also vacated his belt to make the move up to 170 pounds. He wanted to retain his status as the lightweight champion, but it wasn’t possible.
"I want to hold my belt from the lightweight, but it's not possible because if I fight with Della Maddalena in October or November," Makhachev said. "Then in February Ramadan is beginning, holding more than one year of the lightweight belt (without defending) is not what I want to do. It's not respectful to all those.
"Maybe (I'll return to lightweight)," he continued. "We will see. If something interesting comes up, we will see. I don't say no because maybe.”
