Ilia Topuria claimed he knew hours before the White House event announcement that he would face Islam Makhachev, but was then told Makhachev was injured and he would fight Justin Gaethje instead. Topuria questioned why Makhachev doesn't want to fight him. Makhachev fired back, saying he agreed to the White House fight but was told Topuria demanded a huge fee and was denied. Makhachev stated that Topuria refused the fight and even his manager confirmed this. The exchange escalated on social media, with Makhachev posting at 4 AM and joking that it wasn't Ali Abdelaziz managing his account this time.
