Ilia Topuria fired accusations, and Islam Makhachev has pointed the finger right back at the Spanish star.
On Tuesday afternoon, Topuria, UFC lightweight champion, took to X to accuse Makhachev, UFC welterweight champion, of faking an injury to avoid fighting him at the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House on June 14. It didn’t take long for Makhachev to issue a response, putting the blame on Topuria for the fight not coming to fruition.
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“We both know who chickened out here 😉 you can cover your cowardice with nasty tweets, but don’t worry, one day you will get what you asked for!,” Makhachev wrote on X. “And your fat ass manager don’t have to ask for billions to fight me, we’ll do it for free.”
Topuria claims that Makhachev faked an injury, and that’s how he ended up taking on interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in a title unification bout in the main event of UFC Freedom Fights 250.
On Sunday, UFC CEO Dana White refuted reports of Topuria vs. Makhachev, saying they were “not true” and that it “was never Islam vs. Topuria” for the White House event. White did confirm that Makhachev is dealing with a hand injury but didn’t offer a timeline for his return to the cage.
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Topuria and Makhachev have been on a collision course for a couple of years now.
Topuria, as he was rising up the ranks, was very vocal sbout wanting to move up from featherweight to lightweight to take Makhachev’s title. Since, Topuria won and defended the belt at 145 pounds only to then vacate for a move up to lightweight. He did end up claiming the lightweight belt, but he did so in a vacant title fight against former champ Charles Olievira. Like Topuria, Makhachev vacated his belt to go for a second divisional title at welterweight. Makhachev became UFC 170-pound champ last November, dethroning Jack Della Maddalena.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Islam Makhachev responds to Ilia Topuria’s ducking accusation
