Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev remains one of the biggest fights to make in MMA right now and Dana White appears to be completely on board.
Remember, a matchup between Topuria and Makhachev was expected to go down after Topuria vacated his UFC featherweight title in order to test the waters at 155 pounds. That was, of course, until Makhachev vacated his lightweight title to test the waters at 170 pounds. Topuria went on to win the vacant UFC lightweight strap with a recent knockout win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 (see it HERE).
As for Makhachev, he’s expected to earn an immediate title shot against newly-minted UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena sometime later this year. If Makhachev is able to continue his reign of dominance and win his second UFC title it will setup a huge superfight with Topuria.
Dana White says if Islam Makhachev wins the title, a superfight with Ilia Topuria is the next big thing
“Obviously, if Islam wins the title, you immediately have a superfight between him and Ilia.”
(via @fullsendpodcast ) pic.twitter.com/jYTKu1pRI3
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) July 11, 2025
“Another massive fight would be Ilia [Topuria] vs. Islam [Makhachev],” said White during his recent appearance on the Full Send Podcast.
“Obviously, if Islam wins the title, you immediately have a superfight between him and Ilia.”
“These are options that we have if things play out that way, but you never know what’s going to happen.”
It’s unknown at this time if UFC would have Topuria move up another full weight class to chase his third UFC title (which would only add more buzz to the matchup) or have Makhachev come back down to 155 pounds and try to reclaim the same title he just left behind. Either way, it seems like a Makhachev win over JDM could open the door for a long-awaited showdown with Topuria.
Joe Rogan, pack your bags!
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
