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Islam Makhachev has reacted to UFC president Dana White's claim that he turned down the offer to take on Rafael dos Anjos in a short-notice fight at UFC 272 this weekend. Dos Anjos was initially set to lock horns with Rafael Fiziev in the co-headliner of UFC 272.
However, Fiziev tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to pull out of the fight. Makhachev seemingly offered to step up as a replacement on short notice following a back-and-forth with dos Anjos on Twitter.
While it looked like the pair would end up fighting on March 5, it was announced that the former lightweight champ would be facing Renato Moicano instead.
Dana White later claimed that Makhachev refused to take the fight for undisclosed reasons. White said that he went to sleep knowing that the fight was a done deal but woke up to find out about Makhachev's refusal.
In an interview with Barstool Sports, he said:
"I thought we had it done. When I went to bed one of the nights, I thought it was done. Woke up the next morning and found out they turned it down. Islam [turned it down].”
In response, Makhachev took to Twitter to laugh away Dana White's claims in a seemingly light-hearted comment. Makhachev suggested that White should have stayed up late to get the fight booked instead of falling asleep.
"Dana, you went to bed to early, you gotta stay up late to get things done. [Cry emojis] "
Check out the tweet below:
Islam Makhachev set to fight Beneil Dariush in potential number one contender's fight later this year
Islam Makhachev picked up a first-round TKO win over Bobby Green at the recently concluded UFC Vegas 49 event last weekend. The Dagestani was initially scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush at the event. However, Dariush withdrew from the bout following a leg injury.
As Dariush looks to recover, White also revealed in the same interview that Makhachev is likely to fight him next in a number one contender's fight later this year.
"Since he turned down this fight, we are going to remake the Dariush fight," White said.
Makhachev is currently on a 10-fight winning streak in the UFC while Dariush has won seven on the trot. It'll be interesting to see who emerges victorious when these two grappling wizards collide.
Makhachev, on his part, seems ready for any test in the lightweight division.
