With the UFC White House card looming, the public debate is chattier than ever about what the biggest UFC fights that can fathomably be made are.
Everyone has an opinion, and that includes former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. While many are talking about Jon Jones and Alex Pereira’s public campaigns to fight one another, Nurmagomedov thinks there’s a bigger fight to be made.
“I think right now, (Ilia) Topuria-Islam (Makhachev) can be biggest fight, not Jon Jones and (Alex) Pereira,” Nurmagomedov said in a recent interview with Josh Thomson. “It’s still big fight but not on that level. I don’t think it’s on same level.”
Topuria vacated his featherweight title after winning it, moved to lightweight, and won the vacant title there. That title was vacated by Makhachev, who attempts to do something similar Saturday at UFC 322 against Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title.
The recent trend of champions vacating and shifting weights (or in Jones’ case, retiring) have left a lot of fans unfilled, hungry to see the definitive best fights possible.
While Nurmagomedov has indicated it’s unlikely his fighters appear on the White House event that’s targeted for June, perhaps a Topuria vs. Makhachev bout could appear on the UFC schedule another time in 2026. Only time will tell.
