At UFC 322, Islam Makhachev made history by becoming the first Dagestani fighter to claim two-division champion status after defeating Jack Della Maddalena convincingly. Before anyone could determine his next move, the newly crowned welterweight champion laid out his plans. He called out the U.S. President and said, “Donald Trump, open the White House. I’m coming.” To compete at UFC’s premier event next year, he needs an opponent who matches his star power, and so far, Ilia Topuria has been the frontrunner.  

‘El Matador’ has called out Makhachev multiple times, and he even pushed for the White House fight, willing to move to another weight division. Keeping that animosity alive, the Georgian-Spaniard labeled the Dagestani’s latest win in Madison Square Garden as “Boring” on X. Reacting to Ilia Topuria’s criticism, Makhachev didn’t let it slide and uploaded a video of himself crushing a rose. So, as the UFC heads into next year, the rivalry is heating up. Still, one question remains: will the fight stay at 170 or move down to 155? Makhachev’s head coach has the answer.   

Javier Mende gives a green signal to Islam Makhachev’s 170 lbs future 

During an interview with Submission Radio, American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) head coach, Javier Mendez said, “Speaking to Charles, the UFC dietitian, he said, ‘Oh man, he’s on schedule. He doesn’t have nowhere near to lose what he normally does to lose. Then, come fight night, they weighed him in, and he weighed 185. So he put on 15 pounds on fight night. So, he’s a good 185-190 pounder right now walking around.”  

As per Islam Makhachev’s trainer’s revelation, there’s no chance the Dagestani returns to lightweight, making the 170 lbs division his future. In that case, Ilia Topuria must move up to welterweight if he truly wants the White House fight. And while Mendez has already outlined the champion’s path, Makhachev himself made it clear at UFC 322 post-fight.

Now, as Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria’s rivalry has finally started taking shape, the Dagestani champion’s head coach also addressed another criticism that he particularly didn’t like. 

Javier Mendez defends JDM from Ilia Topuria’s criticism  

Even though Islam Makhachev delivered one of the most dominant performances of his career against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322, fans didn’t get the barn burner they expected from two high-profile fighters. Well, it seems Ilia Topuria was one of those people who didn’t feel that excitement and ended up taking shots at the Aussie, writing on X, “Jack needs an entire camp dedicated just to wrestling. What a disappointment of a champion. You should go to Georgia to learn something.”

After Topuria’s comment, many felt he threw unnecessary criticism at Della Maddalena, who gave everything in the championship fight. Islam Makhachev’s coach also believes ‘El Matador’ crossed the line. He said on Submission Radio, “Yeah, I read something where he basically made bad remarks about Jack. I think that’s just whatever. I don’t care for that because I thought Jack did his best and fought his heart out, and all props go to him, and he’s a 10 times better fighter than he proved last night.”

With so much back-and-forth between Ilia Topuria, Islam Makhachev, and his team, the stakes keep rising as the promotion moves closer to the still-unofficial White House event next year. Now it’s just a matter of seeing whether the Georgian Spaniard defends his belt and then moves up, or if Dana White and company simply give him a ticket to face Makhachev at the White House event. 

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.