Ilia Topuria claimed he was told hours before the White House announcement that he would fight Islam Makhachev, but the fight was cancelled due to Makhachev's injury and replaced with Justin Gaethje. Islam Makhachev countered these claims, stating he agreed to the bout but was then told Topuria demanded a huge purse and was denied, leading to the fight falling through. Makhachev accused Topuria and his team of lying about the situation. The exchange highlights ongoing tension between the two champions. A fan commenting at 4 AM prompted Makhachev to clarify it wasn't his manager Ali responding this time.
A public dispute has broken out between Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria over the circumstances that derailed their planned superfight, with both champions offering sharply conflicting accounts of what went wrong.
Topuria, ranked number one pound-for-pound and holding a 17-1 record, says he was informed just hours before a White House announcement that he would face Makhachev, only for the bout to collapse after Makhachev suffered an injury. The 29-year-old Spaniard, who competes at lightweight and lands an eye-catching 4.81 significant strikes per minute, indicated the fight was then replaced by a matchup involving Justin Gaethje.
Makhachev pushed back firmly. The reigning welterweight champion, a 34-year-old Russian with a 28-1 record who completes takedowns at a rate of 3.2 per fifteen minutes, acknowledged agreeing to the fight but alleged that Topuria subsequently demanded an outsized purse that was ultimately denied, causing negotiations to fall apart. Makhachev publicly accused Topuria and his team of misrepresenting the sequence of events.
Adding an unusual footnote, Makhachev clarified that his late-night social media response — prompted by a fan posting at four in the morning — came directly from him, not from his manager Ali Abdelaziz.
Gaethje, a 37-year-old American champion with a 28-5 record and one of the most active strikers in the division at 6.48 significant strikes landed per minute, was inserted as the replacement opponent following the reported collapse of the Topuria-Makhachev booking.
Why it matters
- Both men hold championship gold, making any future matchup a genuine cross-divisional superfight
- The conflicting accounts leave the real reason for the breakdown unresolved and the fight itself in limbo
- Topuria sits first in the pound-for-pound rankings while Makhachev has long been positioned as the sport's dominant grappler, ensuring the stylistic intrigue remains high whenever a deal is revisited
