Ilia Topuria claimed he was informed he would fight Islam Makhachev at the White House event, but hours before the announcement was told Makhachev was injured and he would face Justin Gaethje instead. Islam Makhachev countered that he agreed to the bout but was told Topuria requested an enormous fee and was rejected, accusing Topuria of lying about the situation. The exchange highlights ongoing tensions between the featherweight champion and lightweight champion. Jorge Masvidal and Orion Cosce both picked Sean Strickland to defeat Hamzat Chimaev. Dricus Du Plessis identified Israel Adesanya as his most technical opponent, with Sean Strickland and Brad Tavares as the hardest hitters, notably excluding Chimaev. Fighters scheduled for UFC 327 have earned a combined 92 bonuses in their careers.
A public dispute between featherweight champion Ilia Topuria and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has spilled into the open ahead of UFC 327, with both fighters offering conflicting accounts of why a proposed bout between them fell apart.
Topuria stated that he was originally told he would fight Makhachev at the White House event, only to learn hours before the official announcement that Makhachev was injured and that Justin Gaethje would be his opponent instead. Makhachev pushed back sharply, saying he had agreed to the fight but was informed that Topuria had demanded an exorbitant fee that was rejected, and he accused Topuria of being dishonest about the sequence of events. Neither side has offered documentation to support their version, and the exchange has sharpened the friction between two of the promotion's most prominent champions.
Elsewhere in the fight week conversation, middleweight champion Sean Strickland drew some public backing ahead of UFC 327. Jorge Masvidal and Orion Cosce both went on record picking Strickland to defeat Hamzat Chimaev. Strickland carries a 31-7 record and outputs an impressive 6.04 significant strikes per minute, landing at 42 percent accuracy. The 35-year-old out of Xtreme Couture holds a 76-inch reach and fights out of an orthodox stance.
Former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis also weighed in on his career opponents, naming Israel Adesanya as the most technically skilled fighter he has faced. He pointed to Strickland and Brad Tavares as the hardest hitters he has encountered, a notable omission of Chimaev from that category. Du Plessis, ranked second in the middleweight division and seventh pound-for-pound at 32 years old, carries a 23-3 record and averages 5.18 significant strikes per minute with a 48 percent accuracy rate. Tavares, a 38-year-old veteran with a 21-13 record, averages 3.41 significant strikes per minute and holds wins across a lengthy UFC career.
Why it matters
- The Topuria-Makhachev dispute raises questions about how cross-divisional superfights are negotiated and communicated
- If either fighter's account is accurate, it signals dysfunction in matchmaking discussions at the highest level
- Strickland receiving public support from fellow fighters adds to the pre-fight narrative heading into UFC 327
Saturday, April 11, 2026
