Islam Makhachev getting injured turned out to be a blessing in disguise for others. He was rumored to fight Arman Tsarukyan in October, but this plan seems to be canceled because of a ligament injury in his hand. He has been ruled out of the fight, but ‘Ahalkalakets’ has a savior. It is none other than Dustin Poirier, who is willing to enter the octagon and help the promotion. But he has a condition for Dana White. What is it?

During an exclusive interview with MMA Junkie, Poirier said, “Is Arman (Tsarukyan) going to continue to wait for Islam? I don’t know when Islam is going to be back. I saw a sign that he might have to have surgery. Yeah, for sure (an interim title fight) interests me.”

The condition is clear. ‘Diamond’ wants an interim fight. This might turn out to be a good idea. With Makhachev possibly sidelined until next year, an interim fight would be great to keep the lightweight division going.

Now when it comes to Makhachev’s injury, insiders have suggested that the fighter might have to go through surgery and then recuperate. So he would most likely not fight this year. His long-time coach, Javier Mendez, also suggested the same. He went a step ahead and even commented on Makhachev’s ambitions in the welterweight division.

“I would think it would be the Arman rematch because I don’t see anything else in the horizon, being that Belal won the welterweight title. I seriously, seriously doubt that they (Belal and Islam) would want to fight each other, so I think that changes the dynamic of going-for-two-belts situations,” he shared.

But if Dana White decides to go ahead with the interim bout, UFC 308 would not be the event for that. It was just a few days back that the promotion announced the fight card for the PPV event in Abu Dhabi.

The UFC 308 main card has some big names!

Dana White has already announced the PPV card in Abu Dhabi for UFC 308. The main event is going to be between the undefeated champion, Ilia Topuria, and the BMF champion Max Holloway. The co-main event will feature Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker.

Further, Ciryl Gane, Rafael dos Anjos, Alexander Volkov, and many other names will be seen in the octagon.

However, Ariel Helwani updated that there was a huge change of plans behind the scenes. He pointed out that Islam Makahchev being hurt put a little problem in the event. He wrote on X, “The original main was supposed to be Islam x Arman, but Islam is banged up, so that’s now pushed back. This leaves a hole in the main event slot for 307 because Ilia and Max were being considered for that. Still TBD.”

Before the UFC 308 cards were announced, the fans were excited about a potential fight between Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria for UFC 306 or 307. But the promotion pushed it to UFC 308.

When it comes to Tsarukyan though, there are some problems if he wants to fight soon. He received a nine-month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission because he punched a fan during his walkout at UFC 300, where he faced Charles Oliveira. But his suspension could be cut short if he decides to apologize.

In fact, the fan also apologized to the fighter for provoking him, and in turn, Tsarukyan was relieved that he didn’t get sued.