Islam Makhachev Says Ilia Topuria Fight Would Be Biggest for UFC White House Card

Former UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is set to challenge for the welterweight title at UFC 322 next month, but he already has his eyes set on a bigger matchup down the line.

Makhachev told ESPN's Brett Okamoto that if he defeats welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena in the main event of the Nov. 14 card at Madison Square Garden, he would welcome the opportunity to face former featherweight champion and current lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, who knocked out Charles Oliveira to win the title Makhachev vacated. Makhachev added that he feels the fight between the company's top two pound-for-pound fighters should go down at the UFC White House event scheduled for June 14.

"I saw the [Oliveira] fight; he's good," Makhachev said. "I have a good fight now and I know [Topuria] is going to fight soon and we'll see what's gonna happen. He wants to fight at the White House, and I also want to be there. I know the UFC wants to do some big fight in the White House. Which fight is going to be bigger than this?"

Topuria's next title defense hasn't yet been announced, but it can be expected that he will fight again at least once before the White House card. The UFC has yet to announce any fights for the highly anticipated event, but it can be expected that the company will want to stack the card with the best fights possible.

Okamoto noted that Topuria previously said he would be willing to move up in weight again to fight Makhachev at welterweight if he's victorious against Della Maddalena. Conquering a third weight class would solidify Topuria as one of the greatest fighters of all time, and facing Makhachev would undoubtedly be his toughest test.

For his part, Makhachev feels he will finally be performing at the best of his abilities after moving up to welterweight.

"No one who cuts like [22 pounds], they never recover 100 percent, you know?" Makhachev said. "I was still feeling [the effects] for the fight, maybe 70 percent or 60 percent, because it's so hard to recover 30 hours [after cutting weight]."