The war of words between UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev and lightweight titleholder Ilia Topuria continues to head up.
Topuria headlines the UFC event at the White House on June 14 against interim titleholder Justin Gaethje, but would rather be facing Makhachev. Topuria believes Makhachev has been avoiding a fight between the two and accused the top pound-for-pound fighter of ducking the matchup for the UFC White House event.
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“Once again Islam comes up with an excuse. This time it’s an injury,” Topuria wrote on X. “I always knew I would be part of the White House event. Even when the UFC told me at one point that they wouldn’t count on me for the event, I knew it was part of the negotiation. When they finally told me I would be on the White House card, they mentioned Islam and I didn’t hesitate for a second to accept the fight. Even though the fight hadn’t been officially confirmed yet, the White House card was going to be announced the next day. And when I woke, I found out that Islam had gotten injured. And then Justin Gaethje appeared. Once again, someone else who will pay for Islam’s escape.”
Makhachev fired back at “El Matador” accusing him of ‘chickening out’ of the growing grudge match.
“We both know who chickened out here,” Makhachev replied to Topuria’s post on X. “You can cover your cowardice with nasty tweets, but don’t worry, one day you will get what you asked for! and your fat ass manager don’t have to ask for billions to fight me, we’ll do it for free.”
Topuria is ranked No. 2 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings. A fight between the two champions would pit the two best fighters in the world against each other while in their athletic primes.
