Ilia Topuria is staying ready for whatever the outcome is of his pursuit of a lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev.
Ahead of UFC 315 on Saturday, welterweight champion Belal Muhammad sent Islam Makhachev a defiant message after the Russian continued to hint at a potential move up in weight.
Ilia Topuria has continued hinting that his next fight will be announced soon, stating that he will be fighting at UFC 317 at the end of June.
And with that, UFC boss Dana White confirmed that the result of the UFC 315 main event will determine who both Topuria and Islam Makhachev fight next.
Topuria sends Makhachev a two-word message ahead of UFC 315
If Belal Muhammad successfully defends his 170lb title against Jack Della Maddalena on Saturday, Makhachev will more than likely fight ‘El Matador’ next.
But if Della Maddalena brings an end to Muhammad’s short reign, Makhachev will finally move up to welterweight to compete for a second belt.
If the Russian champion does in fact move up to welterweight, he has revealed that he will not be vacating his lightweight title and will attempt to hold both belts at the same time.
And with UFC 315 just hours away, Topuria has sent Makhachev a two-word message ahead of the defining fight.
“Happy Saturday,” Topuria captioned a video of him training, tagging Makhachev.
The 28-year-old is looking visibly heavier ahead of his move to 155lbs, and if the Spaniard doesn’t secure a fight against Makhachev, he will likely take on fellow contender, Charles Oliveira.
Is Makhachev vs Topuria the biggest fight the UFC could make right now?
A large majority of the UFC fanbase believe that a fight between Makhachev and Topuria is the biggest fight that could be currently made in the sport.
The only other fight that potentially has more hype surrounding it, is a UFC heavyweight title unification fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall, with that fight continuing to be delayed.
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn recently took a swipe at the UFC, claiming that they have a current ‘lack of stars’ issue, however, if they can successfully make the aforementioned fights, it could be a huge back end of the year for the promotion.
