Topuria and Makhachev dispute details of White House event fight negotiations

Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev have presented conflicting accounts of what transpired with their planned White House event fight. Topuria claims he went to sleep knowing his fight with Makhachev was scheduled to be announced, but received a call hours before the announcement stating Makhachev was injured and he would fight Justin Gaethje instead. He expressed confusion about why Makhachev doesn't want to fight him. Makhachev countered that he agreed to the White House fight when offered, but was told the next day that Topuria requested an enormous purse and was denied. Makhachev accused Topuria and his team of lying, stating that even Topuria's manager confirmed this version. In a notable exchange, when a fan suggested it was Ali Abdelaziz posting at 4 AM, Makhachev replied "Today it's not him," implying he was personally responding. The contradictory statements leave the true sequence of events unclear.