The path to a UFC title is usually a straight line of self-promotion, but welterweight contender Ian Garry is suggesting a detour that could sideline his own championship dreams.’ Islam Makhachev has a target painted on his back after UFC 322, so it might be surprising to see a leading contender for the title shot sidestep to watch Ilia Topuria take the opportunity instead.

‘The Future’ is set to clash with Belal Muhammad in the co-main event of the UFC’s inaugural Qatar card. Most likely, the winner of this matchup might determine Makhachev’s next opponent. So both fighters will look to deliver their best versions as the UFC matchmakers might put them against the reigning champ. However, Ian Garry adamantly believes that Dana White should look forward to booking the Islam vs Ilia superfight at the still unofficial White House event. 

Ian Garry believes Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev is the biggest fight UFC can make 

At the UFC Fight Night Qatar media day, Ian Garry said, “I think Ilia vs Islam is the biggest fight that the UFC could make, hands down, in my opinion. You got two, two-weight world champions. One will try to go for the greatness to become the first triple champ of all time. So, it’s an absolutely gigantic fight; you cannot beat around the bush. You have to just state the obvious and understand it.”  

The Irishman is right to point out that Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria would be the best fight the UFC could make right now. There are simply too many good options for Makhachev’s next title defense, from the young and hungry Michael Morales to the aging but ever-tough Kamaru Usman. But none of those prospects are nearly as exciting as Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev, and UFC Qatar’s co-main star Ian Garry admits as much.

Even though he’s pushing for the fight to happen, Garry feels that the UFC might not actually book it, as it might halt two divisions completely. ‘The Future’ added during his UFC Qatar media interaction, “However, I don’t know if the UFC wanna do that, because then you slow down two divisions. But is it worth it? If they are gonna get the money in return, the business is there, the people wanna see it, the UFC will do it. So, it’s an interesting topic. I think they aren’t going to do that right now.”

When was the last time we saw a deserving contender acknowledging someone else deserving a title shot? Justin Gaethje’s statement from 2019 comes to mind. The lightweight admitted after his UFC Vancouver outing that Tony Ferguson deserved the title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov over anyone else. A humble admission, considering Gaethje was a leading contender and fought for the title the following year. At the time, Khabib vs Tony was the most anticipated lightweight bout, perhaps even more so than Khabib vs. Conor McGregor 2. So the hype factor was just as relevant as Ferguson’s famous 12-fight win streak.

Just to put things in perspective, Islam Makhachev’s Octagon interview from UFC 322 has well over 2.3 million views on YouTube already. Topuria’s UFC 317 interview from four months ago sits at 1 million. In comparison, Khamzat Chimaev’s speech from UFC 319 has 2 million views while Dricus Du Plessis’ has 1.8 million. Alex Pereira’s UFC 320 one has a much lower 771K.

Makhachev is, without a doubt, the promotion’s biggest star right now. And his two options for a big-name opponent are Chimaev and Topuria. The former has stated his interest in coming back down to his welterweight hunting grounds for a super fight. As enticing as that sounds, it does not quite have the touch of bad blood that the UFC’s super villain Ilia Topuria brings. Besides, middleweight is almost as stacked as welterweight and will keep ‘Borz’ busy. This brings us back to ‘El Matador.’

Well, although Garry has his fair share of doubts about the biggest matchup in UFC history, mentioning how the divisions might actually make it hard to happen, Dana White has actually mentioned on the FullSend podcast in July that he’d be interested in the Ilia vs Islam matchup at 170 lbs. Yet, the #6 welterweight contender believes the lightweight division’s depth would halt Ilia’s opportunity.

Garry thinks the lightweight division’s depth could be a problem for El Matador’s 3-belt chances

Currently, the 155 lbs division is packed with contenders for Ilia Topuria to defend his belt against. He has a historical grudge matchup in the pipeline against Paddy Pimblett, and Justin Gaethje has been pretty stubborn about wanting the next title shot or retiring. But with Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker fighting in the UFC Qatar main event, the UFC might actually look forward to giving the title shot to the winner.

Because of that, Ian Garry believes Topuria having so many contenders wouldn’t let him move up another weight class to face Islam Makhachev at the White House. He added at the media day interview, “I think when you got the likes of Tsarukyan, Paddy, and Gaethje, they need to have that belt competed at lightweight, and Ilia needs to defend that belt. Islam just got the belt and has to fight at welterweight. That’s the way I look at it.”

But despite Garry putting a rational lens on the Ilia vs Islam superfight’s possibility, the fan in him accepts that it’s the biggest superfight of this era, and he even mentions it being bigger than Jon Jones vs Alex Pereira or even Tom Aspinall. Garry further added, “But it’s absolutely the biggest fight in the sport that you can make right now. Way bigger than the Jon Jones, Aspinall, and Pereira in my opinion.”

Now, with such massive hype behind the Georgia vs Dagestan rivalry, which has picked up heat recently, do you think Dana White will actually make this fight instead of giving Islam Makhachev other contenders from his division? Let us know in the comments section below.