Michael Bisping says the UFC’s White House event needs a fight as big as Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev.
However, after Justin Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) captured the interim lightweight title by defeating Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 in January, the expectation is that he unifies his belt with undisputed champ Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) next.
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With the UFC holding a mega event on the White House grounds in June, Bisping says it’s time for the super fight between welterweight champion Islam Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) and lightweight champ Topuria to take place – even if it means Gaethje gets pushed aside.
“You can’t put an event on at the White House and not have the fight card just blow everything else to smithereens,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “This thing has to deliver, and it absolutely will. They’re going to put together the most incredible night of fights that UFC fans could ever imagine.
“There’s no bigger fight right now, in my humble opinion, than Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria. I know Justin is the interim and Ilia is the undisputed, and that should happen. It really should, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. It’s going down on the White House lawn. President Trump will be there. The whole world will be tuning in. That’s a fact, OK? There’s going to be billions of people watching this. They want to put on the biggest fights. So unfortunately, in this situation, Justin Gaethje’s going to have to wait.”
Makhachev has warmed up to the idea of facing Topuria by recently saying he’s ready. Topuria has been eager to fight Makhachev, but after Makhachev relinquished his lightweight title for a move up to welterweight, that fight no longer became a possibility. But with Topuria doing the same by vacating his featherweight title to go up to lightweight, they remain a weight class apart. “El Matador” said he’s even willing to go up to 170 pounds to get the Makhachev fight.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Michael Bisping snubs Justin Gaethje from UFC’s White House event
