Henry wrote on X the other day, “With Islam Makhachev vacating his belt, I guess that makes me the last fighter to ever be double champ.” He’s right on all counts. We might have officially seen the end of the simultaneous double-champion era in the UFC. Or maybe at least a long break before we see the next one. Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev were the leading contenders in the race. But when ‘El Matador’ made the move to the lightweight division, Dana White pushed him to leave his featherweight title behind. The same has now happened to Makhachev. But the Dagestani team is trying to push a different narrative.

The UFC head honcho made it clear when he announced the main event for UFC 317. He started by announcing the fight between Makhachev and the newly crowned welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddalena, set for a date and venue TBD. But UFC 317 headliner, Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira, had a major revelation: Makhachev’s move to welterweight would strip him of his lightweight championship title.  

White said, “Current lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, is going to move up to the welterweight division to face Jack Della Maddalena. UFC 317, International Fight Week, June 28th, you all know Ilia Topuria, undefeated, 16-0, vacated his featherweight title. And now he’s moving up to lightweight, and he will face former lightweight champion and number 2 ranked Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title.” 

However, Team Khabib’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, has a different take. Recently, Abdelaziz sat down with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn. When Bohn asked the manager if Makhachev would actually shoulder two belts like Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes. Abdelaziz said, “He will have the two [belts] on top of his shoulder because he’s still the lightweight champion. Listen, if you have two guys fighting, like when Khabib retired, Khabib retired as a lightweight champion. You understand? As pound-for-pound number 1 king. Islam is the pound-for-pound number 1 king. He never lost his title.” 

He continued to make his stance stronger by weighing in on the fight between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena and Makhachev’s move to the WW division. The Egyptian revealed there was no way Makhachev would have fought ‘Remember The Name’ for the WW belt. Everyone was against that notion, including him, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Makhachev himself. Had Muhammad won, Makhachev would have fought Topuria. But now, it would be a showdown against Della Maddalena instead. Abdelaziz concluded, “And now Islam get a chance to fight for the welterweight title.” 

Now, the one question that boggles the fighting community’s mind is when the fight between Makhachev and Della Maddalena will happen. Will it happen in 2025? Or will we have to wait for 2026 for the matchup? Let’s find out!

When will we get to see the fight between Islam Makhachev and Jack Della Maddalena?

Just days after Della Maddalena defeated Muhammad and became the new welterweight champion of the world at UFC 315, Dana White swooped in with the announcement. This means that the fight won’t happen anytime soon. Needless to say, the Australian champion needs some time to rest and recover.

And that’s exactly what Abdelaziz believed. He told Bohn, “Islam will fight this year. Regardless if [Jack Della] Maddalena is injured, not injured, or hurt, this is the word that was given to me by Hunter [Campbell], by Dana [White], by everybody. If Jack is not ready, Islam will fight for the belt. Not the interim belt. For a real UFC belt.” 

What does that mean? The UFC is unlikely to strip Della Maddalena if he cannot fight again anytime soon. He’s undefeated in the promotion and won the belt the hard way. Besides, an interim belt makes perfect sense in his absence, with contenders like Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry chomping at the bit. And the ‘real belt’ would mean going back to lightweight, which would make Islam’s vacating the title pointless. But that’s a headache for later. Clear and present is the timeline of the fight.

Abdelaziz told Submission Radio in another interview that the fight will likely headline Madison Square Garden in New York or go to Las Vegas. Why? Because it’s big enough to do so. By tradition, UFC’s MSG PPVs happen in November, which would be a little more than five months from Della Maddalena’s title win. What the Dominance MMA head assured was that this one would likely happen in neutral territory. Not on the annual Abu Dhabi PPV and, definitely not on the rumored PPV in Perth. Surely they remember what happened the last time they visited Perth, and do not want a repeat [UFC 284].

And as far as the fate of the lightweight title is concerned, we’ll get to know about that at the International Fight Week. What do you think of Makhachev’s status as a future double champion? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.