Many fans hope that we will collide two of the best pound-for-pound hunters on UFC 317.
With the heavyweight Title Unification Bout between Jones and Tom Aspinall, who are still in the balance, there is still a large collision that has been spoken about one of the largest cards of the year.
Ilia Topuria has focused on the best light weights since he has announced his decision to go to 155 pounds, but the matchup that everyone wants to see is the former featherweight champion versus Islam Makhachev.
Henry Cejudo recently claimed that it will be Khabib Nurmagomedov, which draws a line under this matchup because he believes that Topuria first needs a victory at 155 pounds.
A recent report suggests that, although this can be the case, the own preference of Makhakevet can also prevent this fight from taking place in Las Vegas on 28 June.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Islam Makhachev is reportedly waiting until after UFC 315 to take his next step
Since submitting Dustin Poirier to UFC 302, Islam Makhachev has made it clear that he wants to move to good weight to challenge a second belt.
He has already been confronted with a champion from the weight class below on two separate occasions that Alexander Volkanovski defeated twice in 2023 and he now believes that he deserves the same chance.
An issue took place when UFC 304 last July, Belal Muhammad, who trained with Makhachev and his team in the past, beat Leon Edwards to win the title.
Muhammad would defend the belt on UFC 310 until an injury forced him to withdraw, which means that his first defending defense instead will be on UFC 315 on 10 May.
Although fans would rather see Makhachev on Topuria, it is understandable why the dominant lightweight champion would rather move to 170 pounds instead.
A recent report from Alvaro Colmenenero states that the Russian will not take its next step until he sees how Muhammad's fight with Jack della Maddalena in Montreal takes place.
Although that will enable him to then decide whether it is the right time to move to good weight, this also means that the international fight week is probably off the table because of the short preparation time that it would give Makhakev.
“Sources told me that Makhachev was planted and will wait until 10 May to see what happens between Mohammed and Della Maddalena to make a decision about his next fight. His participation in International Fight Week is in danger.”
Sources told me that Makhachev was planted and will wait until 10 May to see what happens between Muhammad and della Maddalena to make a decision about his next fight. His participation in International Fight Week is in danger. https://t.co/G6G5NRY9QN
– Álvaro Colmenero (@kolmeneromma) April 4, 2025
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What other fight can UFC 317 head on the International Fight Week?
There have recently been rumors that Alexandre Pantoja is confronted with Kai Kara-France on UFC 317, but the flying weight fight would not be large enough to head the card.
International Fight Week is always covered with something big and if the two most discussed battles in the UFC are not at the moment, it will not leave many other good choices behind.
The clear next step would be to book Dricus du Plessis vs Khamzat Chimaev for the title of the middleweight, which is another long -awaited collision between two major personalities.
Otherwise the UFC may be in a similar position as UFC 300, where they have to clamber something together in the relatively short term, but this time Alex Pereira will not be there to save the day.
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