At the Cowboys vs Chiefs halftime show, Dana White announced UFC 324 and 325, kicking off the Paramount+ era. On January 27th, Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett will headline the event. Then, about a week later, we’ll see Alexander Volkanovski in action against Diego Lopes at UFC 325 main event in Australia. However, with both fights already stirring controversy, it seems the head honcho had other plans for January, mainly putting Islam Makhachev against Kamaru Usman.  

After the Dagestani champ became a two-division king at UFC 322, he immediately called out Kamaru Usman as his preferred opponent on the About Last Fight podcast. The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ accepted Makhachev’s callout during his conversation with MMA Fighting, saying it would be a fan favorite, while leaving a small door open for Jack Della Maddalena as well. However, all in all, the Nigerian star looks far more interested in fighting for the title, and according to their manager, Ali Abdelaziz, Dana White has pitched them for the January showdown.   

Ali Abdelaziz claims Dana White wanted to matchmake Islam Makhachev vs Kamaru Usman in January

“The UFC reached out to me, and they were asking to fight main event on June 27th.” Ali said in an interview with MMA Junkie, which drew a quick response from the reporter Mike Bohn, who asked, “The White House card?” 

The reason Bohn asked this question was because Makhachev, in his UFC 322 victory speech, called for U.S. President Donald Trump to receive him and host the fight at the White House. So he assumed that would be the plan, but in a total surprising twist, Abdelaziz corrected himself and revealed White and company actually pushed Makhachev to fight in January with Ian Garry and Kamaru Usman in the mix.

“ No, January 28. No, he thought about it, and then Khabib said, ‘Hey.’ Honestly, Kamaru’s name was in the mix. I can tell you that. For January 28. Honestly, Ian Garry’s name was in the mix, too.” Ali Abdelaziz added during the interview with MMA Junkie.

Well, so far, White has announced UFC 324 for January 24 and UFC 325 for January 31 or February 1 (USA/Australia time), and right now there’s no event scheduled for January 28. So, which event did Abdelaziz talk about? No idea.

Maybe Dana White planned some secret January card we aren’t aware of, or maybe he just didn’t recognize the date. However, it still feels unlikely that Islam Makhachev and his camp would consider fighting Usman or Garry in just two months without a proper training camp.

Also, with ‘The Future’ getting a massive win at UFC Qatar, most fans want to see him face Makhachev down the line. Ali believes that would be a horrible matchup, as he feels Garry would get beaten by both the Dagestani and the Nigerian.

Ali Abdelaziz claims Kamaru Usman will beat Ian Garry  

At the UFC’s inaugural event in Qatar, Ian Garry impressed everyone with his performance against Belal Muhammad in the co-main event. He decimated the former champ by using his elite takedown defense and precision striking. After winning the bout, the Irishman called out Makhachev for a title shot, and considering that Garry has a solid reputation in terms of both performance and personality in the UFC, Dana White might grant his wish. But Ali Abdelaziz believes otherwise.

Continuing the MMA Junkie interview, the Dominance MMA CEO said, “He wanna make Kamaru look bad. But he doesn’t have to. If he fights Kamaru, I guarantee you in a five-round fight, Kamaru will beat him. Stylistically, Kamaru is a horrible matchup for him. Islam is the worst matchup for him. He wouldn’t last two more rounds with Islam.”

Here, Ali referred to Garry mocking Usman for having no knees during the UFC Qatar media day, further claiming that he wouldn’t get past Makhachev’s grasp. That might be true, but it’s also true that despite the former welterweight champ posing some level of competition for the Dagestani, he has only one win after three straight losses. On the other hand, Garry is riding a two-fight winning streak, with his latest victory coming against a former champ.

In that case, ‘The Future’ actually makes a better case than Usman. But it will be left to Dana White to decide where he wants to take the division with matchmaking. So, what do you think the future holds for Islam Makhachev and the welterweight division?