Ilia Topuria claimed he went to bed knowing he would fight Islam Makhachev at the White House event, only to be told hours before the announcement that Makhachev was injured and he would face Gaethje instead. Topuria questioned why Makhachev doesn't want to fight him. Makhachev responded that he is tired of Topuria's fabrications, saying he agreed to the White House fight but was told the next day that Topuria demanded a huge fee and was refused. Makhachev stated that Topuria turned down the fight and accused him of lying. The exchange also included a humorous exchange where a fan told Ali to go to sleep at 4 AM, to which Makhachev replied it wasn't him posting. Additionally, Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Poirier both picked Sean Strickland over Khamzat Chimaev, with Masvidal calling Chimaev's style "sitting and smelling crotches."
Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev have taken their war of words public, trading contradictory accounts on social media over why a proposed fight at the White House event fell apart before it was ever announced.
Topuria claimed he went to sleep expecting a confirmed bout against Makhachev, only to be informed hours before any public announcement that Makhachev was injured and that he would instead face Justin Gaethje. He questioned openly why Makhachev appears unwilling to fight him. Makhachev fired back, saying he is tired of what he called Topuria's fabrications. According to Makhachev, he had agreed to the White House matchup but was told the following day that Topuria had demanded a fee so large it was refused, effectively turning the fight down himself. Each man accused the other of lying.
Islam Makhachev, 34, holds a 28-1-0 record and is the reigning lightweight champion, currently ranked number one pound-for-pound. The Russian fights out of Eagles MMA and is one of the most complete grapplers in the sport, averaging 3.2 takedowns per fifteen minutes with a striking accuracy of 58 percent.
The social media back-and-forth also produced a lighter moment when a fan urged Ali Abdelaziz to go to sleep at 4 AM, prompting Makhachev to clarify it was not him posting at that hour.
Separately, both Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Poirier weighed in on the upcoming middleweight contest between Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev, with both picking Strickland to win. Masvidal offered a colorful critique of Chimaev's grappling-heavy style. Poirier, 37, carries a 30-10-0 record and fights out of American Top Team. Strickland, 35, is the current middleweight champion with a 31-7-0 record, standing six-foot-one with a 76-inch reach and averaging over six significant strikes landed per minute.
Why it matters
- A Topuria versus Makhachev superfight would be a crossover between featherweight and lightweight, carrying massive divisional implications
- Competing public narratives make it unclear whether the fight collapsed over an injury or a financial dispute
- Masvidal and Poirier's Strickland picks reflect broader skepticism about Chimaev's path against a high-volume striker
