🚨 Dana White thinks UFC stars are fighting less because they're making too much money! 💰👀 Speaking about Islam Makhachev, Ilia Topuria, and Khamzat Chimaev, Dana explained that fighters tend to be more active early in their careers when they're hungry to make money and reach the top. 🗣️ “When guys are young and hungry, they want to fight a lot because they want to get paid. But once you start to get enough money, you don’t have to fight all the time.”
UFC CEO Dana White has offered a blunt explanation for why some of the promotion's biggest names are fighting less often: once the money is good enough, the urgency fades.
White made the comments while discussing Islam Makhachev, Ilia Topuria and Khamzat Chimaev. He said fighters tend to be far more active early in their careers, when they are hungry to get paid and climb the ladder. Once they have earned enough, he argued, they no longer feel they have to fight all the time.
The numbers show how the activity of those three has played out. Makhachev, the 35-year-old Russian, is 29-1 and holds the welterweight title. His most recent recorded fight was a unanimous decision win over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 on August 15, 2026, and that followed a decision over Jack Della Maddalena in November 2025. Between the two title defenses sat roughly nine months. He lands 2.27 significant strikes per minute at 58 percent accuracy and averages 3.22 takedowns per 15 minutes.
Topuria, the 29-year-old Spaniard, is 17-1 and ranked first at lightweight and first pound-for-pound. His most recent recorded fight was a fourth-round TKO loss to Justin Gaethje in a title fight at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, 2026. Before that, he had stopped Charles Oliveira in June 2025, a gap of almost a year between bouts. His 4.81 significant strikes landed per minute is the highest of the three.
Chimaev, 32 and representing the United Arab Emirates, is 15-1 and ranked first at middleweight. He lost a split decision to Sean Strickland at UFC 328 on May 9, 2026, in a title fight. That bout came about nine months after his unanimous decision win over Dricus Du Plessis in August 2025. He averages 5.29 takedowns per 15 minutes, the best rate of the group.
Why it matters
- Activity is a recurring talking point around champions and top contenders, and the UFC's top executive is now tying it directly to financial comfort.
- Each of the three has had gaps of roughly nine to twelve months between recorded fights, a pattern that fits White's description.
- Topuria and Chimaev both come off title-fight losses, so their next bookings will show how quickly each wants to return.
White did not announce any bookings in his remarks, and none of the three has a confirmed next fight in the information available.
