Topuria and Makhachev’s Trash Talk Gets Personal

Ilia Topuria isn’t holding back when it comes to Islam Makhachev’s recent decision to move divisions instead of facing him in a highly anticipated superfight.

Following UFC President Dana White’s announcement that Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) will vacate his lightweight title to pursue a shot at newly crowned welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena, Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) took aim at the Dagestani star, accusing him of dodging a potential showdown at 155 pounds.

Topuria, the undefeated former featherweight champion, had made a push earlier this year to move up and challenge Makhachev. With that opportunity now off the table, he’s instead been booked to fight former lightweight champ Charles Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) for the vacant title at UFC 317.

Makhachev had previously criticized Topuria for vacating his featherweight belt in pursuit of a lightweight title shot. But after this week’s revelation that Makhachev himself would be relinquishing his own title to jump to welterweight, Topuria fired back, calling out what he sees as blatant hypocrisy.

“(Makhachev) is the biggest hypocrite I’ve ever seen,” Topuria recently said in a translated press conference (h/t Marca, Championship Rounds). “He said he didn’t want to give me the opportunity because I was the little guy, and now the little guy is the one looking for the same opportunity I was looking for. How are you going to criticize my decision when you’re doing the same thing right now? I’ve never seen more hypocrisy in my life.”

Topuria Accuses Makhachev of Running Away

Earlier this week, Islam Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, claimed that if Belal Muhammad had defeated Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315, Makhachev likely would have remained at lightweight to face Topuria. However, the Spanish-Georgian contender strongly refutes that assertion.

“They’re lying, they’re liars,” Topuria said. “That’s a complete lie, that’s not the truth. But I understand that it’s his job to clean up the mess his clients leave behind.”

“Ali should thank me for not beating his star, and that today, he still has value and some credibility is thanks to me,” Topuria said. “This was the fight everyone wanted to see, I was ready for it, I put everything I could on the table, and they ran away, and from the beginning, they never, ever accepted the fight.”

Makhachev wasted no time responding to Topuria’s accusations, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to fire back: “Difference between me and you, that I cleaned top list in my division, moved to next, but you ran away from two contenders who had consecutive 5-9 wins in FW division. You are nobody in LW division, just a big mouth from spain with nice haircut. Go get one W, and we can talk boy”.

Topuria clapped back quickly, tweeting: “The difference between you and me is that I am a man and you are a coward. I speak and fight. you talk and hide. Run away far, leaving no trace. Ты маленький пацан (You are a little boy),”.

Paul Browne

Paul Browne is a professional mixed martial arts commentator, feature writer and podcaster based in Dublin, Ireland.