Makhachev and Topuria exchange conflicting accounts over fight withdrawal

Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria have offered contradictory explanations about who backed out of their proposed fight. Topuria claims he was told Makhachev sustained an injury hours before the White House event announcement, causing him to be matched with Gaethje instead. Makhachev responded that he accepted the fight but Topuria requested an excessive fee and was denied, with Topuria's manager allegedly confirming this version. In a social media exchange, when a fan noted Makhachev was posting at 4 AM, Islam replied that it wasn't Ali Abdelaziz writing for him. Additionally, Jorge Masvidal and Orion Cosce backed Sean Strickland against Khamzat Chimaev, with Masvidal criticizing Chimaev's style and Cosce refusing to discuss him. Dricus du Plessis named Israel Adesanya as his most technical opponent and Sean Strickland and Brad Tavares as his toughest, notably excluding Chimaev because he doesn't consider their encounter a real fight.