Islam Makhachev dismisses fellow champ Ilia Topuria as future opponent

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria said in an interview this week one of the matchups that most intrigues him would be a fight up a division with Islam Makhachev, the reigning lightweight titleholder.

Makhachev is no stranger to champion vs. champion matchups — he went 2-0 against former featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski in 2023 — but the undisputed 155-pound champ said Friday at a press conference promoting January’s UFC 311 that he’s tired of giving smaller opponents a shot at his belt.

“He’s a good fighter,” Makhachev said of Topuria who knocked out Volkanovski in February to become 145-pound champ then knocked out Max Holloway in October in his first defence. “He’s a good, skilled fighter but I don’t want to give him a chance.”

Instead, Makhachev said he would prefer to eventually challenge for a second title which would require him moving up to the welterweight division.

Makhachev has won 14 consecutive fights in the UFC and is ranked as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the roster, however, two of his lightweight title defences were against a featherweight fighter and the lone natural lightweight he defended against was Dustin Poirier who hadn’t won consecutive bouts in three years.

When asked about what he thought of Charles Oliveira’s UFC 309 victory over Michael Chandler, Makhachev responded by complimenting Oliveira as one of the most exciting fighters in the organization and added he’d be open to a rematch if that’s what fans wanted to see. Makhachev became UFC champion when he submitted Oliveira at UFC 280 in 2022.

Makhachev’s UFC 311 opponent, Arman Tsarukyan, earned a lightweight title shot by winning a split decision over Oliveira at UFC 300 in April.

Tsarukyan will be the second rematch of Makhachev’s UFC career — Oliveira could hypothetically be the third unless Tsarukyan can pull off the upset. Makhachev won a three-round unanimous decision over Tsarukyan when they fought in 2019 in what was Tsarukyan’s UFC debut and a bout that earned Fight of the Night honours.

UFC 311 is scheduled to take place Jan. 18 at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., with a co-main event featuring men’s bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili facing undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.

The projected UFC 311 bout order, which is subject to change, is below…

MAIN CARD

-- Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan

-- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov

-- Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano

-- Jiri Prochazka vs. Jamahal Hill

-- Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder

PRELIMINARY CARD

-- Johnny Walker vs. Bogdan Guskov  

-- Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos

-- Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac

-- Zachary Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas

-- Grant Dawson vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira

-- Karol Rosa vs. Ailín Pérez           

-- Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafurov

-- Ricky Turcios vs. Bernardo Sopaj     

-- Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Clayton Carpenter