Ilia Topuria’s manager Malki Kawa has laid out how the UFC featherweight champion ended up booked against interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in a lightweight title unification bout at UFC White House on June 14.
According to Kawa, the UFC first reached out about using Topuria on the June card with two names on the table. “The answer was no. Wednesday comes around, I get a phone call that says he could fight, it’s his choice: Justin Gaethje or Islam Makhachev. Then I immediately said, ‘Shit, we want Islam.’ They said, ‘OK, great. We’ll give you x number to fight him. And I said, ‘Bro, you know that never will happen.’”
Kawa says that by Friday night, the situation had shifted. “I go to bed… 10:00 at night I got to sleep. At 11:59 to the T, I get a phone call. I’m getting blown up by my brother… ‘Hey, bro. Hunter just called me, they want Ilia to take the fight. They want Ilia to fight.’” He added, “I call Hunter [he says] we want Ilia to fight. I said, ‘OK. Islam?’ Islam can’t fight, his hand is messed up. That Friday night, I’m on the phone with the UFC brass and we’re negotiating… all night. That negotiation was for Justin Gaethje. Islam Makhachev was never an actual option. Who is ducking who?”
Kawa maintains he never accused Makhachev of avoiding the matchup and insists Topuria still wants him after UFC White House. “I never once said Islam was ducking anybody,” Kawa said, later adding, “Everyone agrees that Islam and Ilia might be the biggest fight in UFC history. Don’t you think it should have the biggest pay day in UFC history?”
