Many fans wanted to see Ilia Topuria accept the current pound-for-pound number one.
The next steps at the top of the lightweight division were dependent on the results of UFC 315 in Montreal last weekend.
With Jack della Maddalena who defeated Belal Muhammad to win the Welterweight title, the 155-pound champion Islam Makhakev freed to move divisions now that his friend is not the title holder.
Topuria will be confronted with Charles Oliveira for the empty title, but it is clear that 'El Matador' is not ready to let Makhachev pass him without making further comments.
The two former champions went back and forth with various statements after Topuria spoke about the Oliveira matchup during a press conference.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Ilia Topuria calls Islam Makhachev a 'coward' in response to the destructive message of the former lightweight champion
After the comments by Ilia Topuria at a recent press conference, Islam Makhachev hit back on 'El Matador' with a destructive response to social media.
It is not surprising that the former Federweight champion is now fired back on the current pound-for-pound number one of the UFC with a self-declaration of social media.
Makhachev had claimed that although both men left their belts to go up a division, they are not the same because the Russian first defeated the top candidates.
He called Topuria a “nobody” at lightweight after the undefeated star “ran” from the upper featherweights that his belt had only defended once.
Difference between me and me, that I cleaned the top list in my division, went to the next, but you ran away from two contenders who had consecutive 5-9 victories in the FW division. You are no one in LW Division, just a big mouth of Spain with a beautiful hairstyle. Get a w there, and we can talk boy
– Makhachev Islam (@makhachevmma) 15 May 2025
View tweet
The reaction of the man who will fight on 28 June for the empty belt of Makhachev on 28 June did not go into details, he simply accused the 33-year-old to run away from him.
This will not be the first time that Topuria refers to the former champion as a “coward” in what soon changed from a dream matchup into a rivalry.
The last part of Topuria's message, when loosely translated from Russian to English, is: “You are a little boy.”
“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, leave no traces behind. I ы Iiden
The difference between you and me is that I am a man and that you are a coward. I speak and fight. You talk and hide. Run far away and leave no trace. I ыален ago пацан. https://t.co/kduhdib8t
– Ilia Topuria (@topuriailia) 15 May 2025
View tweet
Ilia Topuria knows for sure how to sell fights
Ilia Topuria has been a somewhat divided character since he arrived in the UFC because he certainly does not fall short in self -confidence.
Khamzat Chimaev spoke about this when thinking about his first impressions of Topuria from many years ago, stating that he is a 'decent, solid man', despite what people think.
With Islam Makhachev to Welterweight, we are not yet going to get the collision with 'El Matador', but that does not mean that it cannot happen in the future.
Topuria's comments during his press conference will only make that matchup even greater as soon as it finally takes place.