Topuria and Makhachev dispute who turned down White House event fight

Ilia Topuria claimed he was scheduled to fight Islam Makhachev at the White House event but Makhachev withdrew due to injury hours before the announcement, leading to Topuria being matched with Gaethje instead. He questioned why Makhachev doesn't want to fight him. Makhachev fired back, stating he agreed to the fight but Topuria demanded an excessive fee and was denied, with even Topuria's manager allegedly confirming this version. The lightweight champion accused Topuria and his team of lying, insisting Topuria was the one who turned down the bout. A fan joked about the late hour of Makhachev's response, to which he replied it wasn't Ali Abdelaziz posting. Additionally, Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Poirier both picked Sean Strickland to defeat Khamzat Chimaev, with Masvidal criticizing Chimaev's fighting style.