Khabib Nurmagomedov achieved everything he could in the UFC, retiring as a champion and an undefeated fighter. However, the abrupt end to his career after his father’s passing did not allow him to fight for a second title. Well, Islam Makhachev has continued to take ‘The Eagle’s legacy forward, and it’s up to him to get that second belt, as he prepares to fight Jack Della Maddalena next.

Islam Makhachev has previously been seen sporting a jacked physique after announcing that he’s going to fight for the welterweight title. It seems his bulking process hasn’t stopped yet, as the former champion shared a few snaps from his recent workout sessions on his Instagram stories. However, deep in Makhachev’s mind, he still had his eyes on Ilia Topuria, as he recently called him out to fight for the No.1 P4P spot. “We will fight for first place,” the Dagestan native recently stated.

Well, one of Islam Makhachev’s old AKA teammates, Josh Thomson, doesn’t think the fight between Ilia Topuria and the Dagestan native is going to materialize anytime soon. Why? That’s because the former lightweight champion has to go through Jack Della Maddalena first, who’s significantly bigger and stronger than ‘El Matador’. Thomson claimed to have had conversations with Makhachev’s mentor about this topic, and they both mutually agreed that the tougher opponent is the reigning welterweight champion.

“I don’t think the fight’s gonna happen necessarily. My thought is he’s gotta win the title first. I’ve had conversations with Khabib on this, back and forth, through texts, and he honestly believes and I believe the same thing. JDM is the harder fight,” Josh Thomson said on the Weighing In podcast. “He’s the more difficult fight for him. The size does matter in this situation. It’s a fifteen-pound jump. And so, dealing with somebody like JDM, who’s got good hands, he’s tough to take down, he’s tough to hold down. All of those things. This is a whole new challenge for Islam.”

Jack Della Maddalena’s impressive performance against Belal Muhammad, who, for many people, gave his first most entertaining performance, shows how dangerous he can be against Islam Makhachev. Well, we’ll see how things pan out, and guess what? We also have some details about that fight, as the Dagestan native made some revelations not too long ago.

Islam Makhachev shares an update on his fight against Jack Della Maddalena

The former lightweight champion had previously revealed wanting to fight at the famous Madison Square Garden arena for the welterweight title. If we take a look at the recent announcements, Dana White has fights lined up until October, as we have two big title fights at UFC 319, 320, and UFC 321. This means that the Madison Square Garden PPV, which takes place in November, is still free.

As per Islam Makhachev, he’s having discussions with the UFC about ending up fighting in November against Jack Della Maddalena, which is what he has wanted for a while now. “We’ve almost agreed on everything,” the former lightweight champion told UFC Eurasia. “There’s a 90 percent chance the fight happens in November.” 

Islam Makhachev has some big fights at hand for sure, and fans also seem to have jumped on the bandwagon of witnessing him fight Ilia Topuria, which is likely to take place in 2026. But, as Josh Thomson said, it depends on the outcome of the Jack Della Maddalena fight. Let us know your predictions for how things will unfold in the days to come in the comments down below.