Islam Makhachev set to return in July: ‘It’s a done deal’

Islam Makhachev isn’t as injured as initially expected, and will return to the cage in July to headline International Fight Week.

That’s according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz, who broke the news with TMZ Sports. Even the gossip site knows that the real fight to make is Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev, and Ali was grilled about why that wasn’t happening. According to the manager, the fight was offered and then quickly withdrawn.

“I got called about Ilia to fight Islam,” Abdelaziz said. “It was middle of the day, Islam was sleeping, and I was excited about it. And after that, I got called back, they said ‘Never mind, the fight is not gonna happen.’ Before even I talk with Islam. And what I know is there’s so many ways to turn down a fight. ‘I’m gonna fight Francis Ngannou, give me $50 million.’ Right?”

“I don’t blame in anyone for trying to make the most money they can because I believe Ilia and Islam is the biggest fight the UFC can make,” he added. “I think this fight should happen this year.”

That lines up with what Topuria’s management told the press after he appeared on the White House card against Justin Gaethje. Malki Kawa said “It was more about getting the numbers. And when the numbers came … and we were like, ‘Not at those numbers.’ So there was no fight.”

So now Makhachev will fight on July 11th — International Fight Week — against a No. 1 contender to be named.

“Islam got offered a different fight at welterweight to be the main event,” Abdelaziz revealed. “And Islam said, ‘Hey, let’s do this in July.’ He has some [injury] stuff going on, you know, Dana speak about it. He has some stuff going on, but I can tell you this: if the [Topuria vs. Gaethje] fight is awful in June and Islam even had one leg, he would have took the fight.”

“But in a way, Islam already have a fight in the summer. He have a welterweight number one contender match against someone. So it’s a done deal already, and the UFC will announce it probably soon.”

Islam Makhachev and Conor McGregor on the same card? Should make for an interesting fight week. See you in Vegas!