Islam Makhachev has finally acknowledged the worst-kept secret in MMA at the moment. There were a lot of speculations about the lightweight champ’s next move and sources claimed that the Dagestani was waiting for the result of the UFC 315 Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena clash this weekend to decide on his next move. And it turns out those reports were a hundred percent correct.

“This Saturdays main event will define what’s my next move is. But regardless of outcome that fight, I’m not going to vacate my lightweight title! We might get real contender there!” Makhachev wrote in an X post.

So why is the lightweight champ waiting for the result of the UFC 315 main event to decide on his next move at all? Well, because the Makhachkala native desperately wants to be a two-division champ. But right now, his good friend Belal Muhammad holds the 170-pound title.

So if the Palestinian-American drops his title to ‘JDM’ this weekend, Makhachev was expected to vacate the lightweight title, move up to 170 and fight Della Maddalena for the title there. But since the Dagestani has made clear that he doesn’t plan on dropping his lightweight title, it may be that he will fight for a second concurrent championship at 170. Will he choose to defend both titles if he indeed wins the welterweight crown, or vacate one of them, however, remains to be seen.

Not to mention, we don’t know whether the UFC would even let Makhachev fight for a second title while he still holds the lightweight strap. The promotion isn’t really chuffed at its champions moving up while there are contenders to fight in the division, so it may not want the Dagestani to move up while still holding the title.

But that discussion will probably have to wait until UFC 315 is concluded. On the other hand, if ‘Bully B’ retains the title, however, the lightweight champ is expected to defend his 155-pound crown in a veritable super-fight.

Dana White confirms Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria is a go if the Dagestani doesn’t move up

UFC matchmaker Hunter Campbell was in Dagestan earlier this week where he met Islam Makhachev and his team. Many suspect that the reason for the UFC CBO’s visit to the remote Russian region was to convince Makhachev to fight Ilia Topuria next if he plans on staying at 155.

Makhachev, of course, had claimed that he wanted the former featherweight champ to fight at least one top lightweight to ‘prove himself’ before he gets a title shot. After all, two of Makhachev’s four title defenses have come against Alexander Volkanovski, who was the featherweight champ then. Which is why he doesn’t want to fight another 145-pounder before they prove they belong at 155.

And it seems Campbell was able to break this deadlock and succeeded in convincing Makhachev to fight the Spanish-Georgian superstar if he doesn’t move up. “Yeah, there’s a lot of moving parts right now, and yeah, that’s pretty accurate,” the UFC CEO said on being asked if the Dagestani champ will fight ‘La Leyenda’ atop the UFC 317 International Fight Week card in late June if Makhachev doesn’t move up. White also confirmed that Topuria will face Charles Oliveira for the title (either interim or vacant) if Makhachev moves up. What do you think about Islam Makhachev’s X post about his future plans?