Dana White just reshuffled the deck for two major UFC cards. But in doing so, he may have alienated the hardcore fans who believe he’s snubbing the sport’s most deserving contenders. His announcement of the first two Paramount+ cards revealed the entire UFC 324 lineup and also confirmed the UFC 325 main event, leaving fans stunned. Due to this, concern arises that the same thing might happen to Islam Makhachev as the promotion gears up for next year.

For the UFC 324 main event, White has matched Justin Gaethje against Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight championship, clearly mentioning that the winner will clash with champion Ilia Topuria. And while the hype around that fight will be unreal, hardcore fans didn’t appreciate the CEO leaving Arman Tsarukyan out of the picture despite being the number one contender. After that announcement, things didn’t get much better for the UFC 325 main event either.

Only a week after the UFC’s first Paramount+ card, the promotion heads to Australia, where Alexander Volkanovski will run it back with Diego Lopes. At UFC 314, ‘The Great’ beat Lopes to reclaim his 145 lb crown. But since fans already watched that outcome play out, the rematch doesn’t feel all that enticing, especially when contenders like Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev were right there waiting for their shot.

So, looking at this recent matchmaking trend, which has shaken up two different weight divisions, fans believe Dana White might repeat the same pattern with Islam Makhachev by pairing him up with Kamaru Usman, a bout that the Dagestani got really interested in after defeating Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322. 

The newly crowned two-division champ wants to fight the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ because he believes Usman is the biggest name in the division and sees him beating other contenders like Michael Morales, Ian Garry, and Carlos Prates.

“I still think Kamaru can beat Morales and Prates both. Kamaru is the biggest name. They’re young and hungry, but Kamaru is still dangerous and one of the best in this game. If you give me the choice and ask me who I want to fight, I will say Kamaru.” Makhachev said on the About The Last Fight podcast. 

Responding to the champ’s callout, Kamaru Usman also made it clear in a recent MMA Fighting interview that he would absolutely want to fight Makhachev to get his title back after losing it to Leon Edwards at UFC 286. So at this point, they almost have a verbal agreement to face each other.

With that callout and the recent matchmaking in mind, particularly fans on Reddit started fearing that the Dagestani might actually end up fighting the former welterweight champion as his first title defence in the new division. And honestly, they weren’t on board with that matchup at all.

UFC fans push back on Dana White over potential Islam Makhachev vs Kamaru Usman fight

One fan quickly chimed in and wrote, “If you asked me a few years ago I would have said this was a dream match-up. In 2026? No, thanks.” And honestly, that’s fair. At one point, Kamaru Usman was the number one pound-for-pound fighter, while Islam Makhachev was still climbing. In that sense, if Usman had kept that status or at least didn’t lose three straight fights, this matchup would make way more sense than it does now.

Mentioning the same thing, another user commented, “Over the hill Usman vs the current p4p #1 in his prime?” which doesn’t exactly sound like the superfight it once could’ve been. Following that, another fan harshly compared the matchmaking to WWE, writing, “The UFC is trying so hard to pad the record of their current champs with the names of legends. Jon with Stipe, Ilia with Charles and now Islam with Usman. WWE type bulls—t.”

Honestly, Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira as the highlight for UFC 317 made sense. But Tom Aspinall not getting the title fight despite being the interim champ during the whole Jon Jones saga, while a clearly ageing Stipe Miocic got it instead, raised a lot of questions. And those questions got even louder after White snubbed at least four rightful challengers in other divisions.

And with Kamaru Usman also being floated as an option, another fan wrote, “No disrespect to Usman he’s a legend but I have no interest in seeing him fight again.” At least if Usman put a winning streak together by beating guys like Shavkat, Morales, or Prates, then sure, why not? But right now, the Nigerian’s chances of fighting any of them look pretty slim as the 170 lbs champ is interested in fighting him. 

Lastly, one positive fan added, “Sure but this would still be the best wrestler Makhachev has faced.” And yeah, Makhachev vs Usman would be a serious clash. Usman even put Khamzat Chimaev on skates at UFC 294. But does that justify a title shot when he just came back with a win over Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta after three straight losses? Maybe not.

That said, Dana White is likely looking to put Ian Garry next against Islam Makhachev after his recent win over Belal Muhammad at the UFC Qatar co-main event. Still, do you think they’ll still explore the Kamaru Usman option? Let us know in the comments below.