Dana White announced that Ilia Topuria will be relinquishing his featherweight title to move up to the lightweight division and face the challenges of the 155-pound division. Wait, wasn’t Topuria pushing for dual-champ status? While that may be true, Dana White’s new rules may not only have halted his plans for double-champ glory but also dashed the aspirations of other fighters— including Islam Makhachev. Unsurprisingly, fans are not happy about it.
While having a conversation with ESPN, the featherweight title contender, Diego Lopes, highlighted that the UFC head honcho has a different set of rules for the champions who want to fight at the higher division and that is they would have to relinquish their title before jumping divisions. According to Lopes, Dana White is done with champions holding up the division. “They were very clear to us that they said that they are no longer giving [a] chance to jump from one weight class to another,” said Lopes.
He further added, “If you want to move up, you have to vacate your title. This is what UFC has said to all champions who are planning to move up a weight class. They will no longer have the status of double champion simultaneously. If [Topuria] is going to be a double champion, it will be nothing more than a champion of two categories.”
Islam Makhachev might find himself at a disadvantage now, considering that the lightweight champion’s ultimate goal is to secure a second title before ending his career. The Dagestani has been calling for a dual-weight championship fight, but Dana White has yet to yield to his demands—and a new rule might have ended Makhachev’s aspirations altogether and the fans are not having it.
Calls for Islam Makhachev dual-weight fight intensify as Dana White brings out a new rule
A social media user pointed out that Islam Makhachev has the right to call for a dual-weight fight, given that he has proven himself in the lightweight division. The Dagestani has defended his belt twice against Alexander Volkanovski, once against Dustin Poirier, and also against Renato Moicano. “Fighters like makhachev with 4 defenses should be given opportunity like this, not ilia with just one title defense.”
Furthermore, another fan has a different opinion as they want to witness one champ vs. champ match before the jump, “Unfortunate. They should be allowed at least one champ vs champ fight before vacating.”
Out of the current champions, Belal Muhammad, Ilia Topuria, and Islam Makahchev were pretty vocal about becoming a double-champ and it was for sure getting out of hand, a fan chimed in the same tune, “So glad. Double champ asks was getting out of control and Dana knew it.”
Moreover, a social media user believes that if a fighter is constantly defending his belt, then he should be given a chance to fight for a second title, “if you’re active and consistently defending i don’t see why not. if you’re one of those that fight once a year absolutely should vacate.” Furthermore, another fan highlighted the same stance, “Good. When someone really deserves a double champ shot, they shouldn’t need to ask for permission. They should objectively clear out their division until there is no challenge left.”
Last but not least, a fan called out Conor McGregor for the fiasco considering the fact that he was the first person who fought two times without much effort, “That’s exactly what McGregor did. Finally the UFC said enough.”
Will this rule be an ultimatum for Islam Makhachev or are there any different plans for him as the Dagestani has emphasized that the UFC has planned something good for him? We may not know it as of yet, but we will wait, given that what are your predictions? State your thoughts in the comments below.
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