Morning Report | Umar Nurmagomedov says Islam Makhachev ‘still wants to fight at 155, too’

Umar Nurmagomedov says Islam Makhachev didn’t want to give up his lightweight belt.

For most of 2025, MMA fans salivated over the prospect of a superfight between Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria. But that fell apart when Belal Muhammad lost his welterweight title to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315. Immediately afterward, Makhachev declared his intention to move up from lightweight to chase the welterweight belt, and shortly after, the UFC announced Topuria would face Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight belt at UFC 317.

Except that’s apparently not what Makhachev wanted.

Speaking with Adam Zubayraev, Makhachev’s friend and teammate Umar Nurmagomedov revealed that the lightweight champion wanted to retain his title, but that’s not what the UFC wanted.

“[Hunter Campbell] came to see Islam,” Nurmagomedov said. “He’s the kind of guy who’s super locked in on his work. He’s the one who made the Khabib-Conor fight happen. That was him. He’s the kind of guy who, from what I’ve gathered, he’s a huge fan. Like, a real fight fan. He loves the sport, wants to build big fights.

“He flew out, and honestly, I don’t even know if I’m allowed to say this, but they wanted Islam to move up. They want to make Topuria the champ at 155. Not because Islam wants to move up but because they want him to be the champ there. They believe he can really sell fights.”

Widely viewed as a future superstar, Topuria won Fighter of the Year honors for his knockout wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, positioning himself as possibly the next face of MMA. And though he only had one title defense at featherweight, “El Matador” was promised, and is now receiving, an immediate title shot at 155 pounds. And apparently that was always the case, it was just a matter of whether or not it would come against Makhachev.

“The plan was, if Belal won, Islam would the defend his title at 155 … against Topuria. But now that Belal is out of the picture, Islam will likely move up to 170 and become a double champ.”

While there’s no official date yet, it’s believed Makhachev will challenge Della Maddalena for the welterweight belt later this year. But, should he win it, Makhachev may not immediately look to defend that title. Instead, Nurmagomedov says the former lightweight champion still has his eyes at the division he built his legacy in.

“He doesn’t want to [give up his belt]. He has no plans to vacate it,” Nurmagomedov said. “He still wants to fight at 155, too.”

Whether or not the UFC will allow that is another question entirely. The welterweight division currently has a number of contenders at the top, including former champion Kamaru Usman who just picked up a big win at UFC Atlanta on Saturday. And though Makhachev may want to fight at 155, Nurmagomedov acknowledges that for his legacy, that’s not the best move.

“For Islam to truly leave a legacy — he’s already made his mark at lightweight,” Nurmagomedov said. “But from an athletics standpoint, grabbing that 170 title would be another major milestone. Being a champion in two weight classes, there have only been like five or six of those. Meanwhile, there have been tons of single division champs. Plenty who only held one belt.”

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