Ilia Topuria: "You are nobody in LW division" - Islam Makhachev responds to Topuria’s trash talk with brutal reality check

Islam Makhachev has responded to Ilia Topuria after the former featherweight champ claimed the Russian had 'run away' from fighting him.

Earlier this week, Dana White announced that Islam Makhachev had relinquished the lightweight title. The Russian now intends to step up to 170 pounds in order to face the newly crowned welterweight champ Jack Della Maddalena. The UFC CEO also revealed that Topuria will be facing off against Charles Oliveira for the now-vacated 155-pound belt.

Following the bombshell announcements, 'El Matador' took to social media to share his reaction. The Georgian-Spaniard then opted to fire a dig towards Makhachev, as he had been hoping to face the 33-year-old for the title, not Oliveira. He tweeted:

"On June 28, another dream will come true. I’ll be the champion of the lightweight division. Charles, my apologies in advance… I’m just fighting for my dreams. It’s unfortunate that Makhachev ran away. 17-0 🌹"

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Catch Topuria's tweet here:

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Islam Makhachev soon fired back, opting to call out Topuria for leaving his division too early. According to the now-former lightweight champ, the biggest difference between himself and Topuria is that he cleared out all the contenders in his division before moving up. Makhachev wrote:

"Difference between me and you, that I cleaned top list in my division, moved to next, but you ran away from two contenders who had consecutive 5-9 wins in FW division. You are nobody in LW division, just a big mouth from Spain with nice haircut. Go get one W, and we can talk boy"

Check out Makhachev's response below:

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Jack Della Maddalena shares bold preview of upcoming bout against Islam Makhachev

Jack Della Maddalena is already planning for his first title defense against Islam Makhachev, despite only winning the title less than a week ago.

Following his impressive unanimous decision win over Belal Muhammad at UFC 315, the Australian is already expected to defend the title against Makhachev later this year. Ahead of their potential bout, 'JDM' showed off his newfound championship confidence by offering a preview of how he thinks the fight would go.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Della Maddalena said:

"I'm sure people are just gonna assume that Islam [Makhachev] would just take me down and submit me pretty quickly. He seems like he's a pretty big guy. I think it'll be one fight [at welterweight] and he'll go back down [because of the outcome].

"I think I can take him out...I don't think Islam is a very good striker. I think I can land a lot of shots and take him out. Stuff the takedowns. If I get taken down, I believe I can get back to my feet."

Check out Jack Della Maddalena's comments below:

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Will began his tenure at Sportskeeda as an MMA writer over 2 years ago and has penned over 1800 pieces so far, including 35+ exclusives, which have garnered close to 5 million views.

Will graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications from Bournemouth University, where he was also a valued member of their communications team. His degree heavily focused on social media and writing, which eventually led him toward sports writing.

He turned into an MMA fan after witnessing Conor McGregor’s 13-second TKO win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in 2015. The Irishman sits at the top of his list of top-five MMA fighters of all time, which also includes world champions like Demetrious Johnson, Michael Bisping, Max Holloway, and Georges St-Pierre.

Will especially enjoys working on event days and feels his contribution to Sportskeeda’s UFC 300 coverage was one of the high points of his time with the organization. He ensures his articles are accurate by going through multiple sources, which also helps his writing be as informative as possible.

His interests away from work include football, gaming, live streaming, and listening to music.

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Edited by Nicolaas Ackermann