Not all hope is lost of a matchup between Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria.
Topuria was originally chasing a lightweight title fight against Makhachev, who was contemplating a move to welterweight. When Makhachev’s friend Belal Muhammad lost his welterweight strap to Jack Della Maddalena earlier this year, the Dagestani vacated his belt and announced a move to 170 pounds. Makhachev is scheduled to challenge Maddalena for the title at UFC 322 on Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Meanwhile, Topuria won the vacant lightweight title by knocking out former champ Charles Oliveira in June.