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Islam Makhachev dismisses lightweight return, tells Ilia Topuria to move up instead: “If he loses, he goes back down”

Islam Makhachev has dismissed the idea of moving down to lightweight to fight Ilia Topuria. The Russian fighter vacated the 155-pound championship in 2025 after defending it a total of four times.

Makhachev moved up in pursuit of two-division glory and dethroned Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 to become a two-division champion.

However, fans have been longing for a showdown between the P4P king and ‘El Matador.’ Earlier, Makhachev had said that he might consider a move down to 155 pounds to fight Topuria if the UFC comes up with an offer that is hard to refuse.