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Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king Islam Makhachev doubled down on his claims of having accepted a fight against Ilia Topuria.
Topuria is scheduled to defend his lightweight title against interim champion Justin Gaethje in the UFC White House: Freedom 250 main event on Sunday. According to reports, the original plan was for Topuria to challenge Makhachev for the welterweight title.
Topuria (17-0) initially blamed Makhachev (28-1) for the matchup falling through. Even Dana White said that Makhachev was out with a hand injury. However, Makhachev has thoroughly denied being injured or turning down a fight against Topuria. Makhachev recently reiterated that he had accepted the offer without any hesitation. However, Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, called him the very next day to inform that the booking was off. Makhachev claims negotiations failed when Topuria’s manager, Malki Kawa, demanded an insane fight purse. The Dagestani champ also notes that Kawa had himself admitted turning down the fight due to inadequate pay.
“I can show you the chats with my manager… He called me, ‘The White House event, a fight against Topuria.’ And I said, ‘Let’s go,’ right away,” Makhachev told Red Corner MMA. “I didn’t even ask for it, but Ali said that the pay would be higher because it was the White House. And I said, ‘It’s even better.’ But the next day he called me and said, ‘It’s cancelled.’ I said, ‘Why, what went wrong?’ And he told me that [Topuria] asked for some insane money. And that was it… His manager himself said it in an interview, ‘The money we were offered for the fight was not enough, so we turned it down.’... Ilia may say whatever he wants, but it was his manager who negotiated.”
Kawa said that they had initially chosen Makhachev over Gaethje. However, Kawa claims the money offered wasn’t enough for a booking as big as Makhachev.
Continue reading...
Topuria is scheduled to defend his lightweight title against interim champion Justin Gaethje in the UFC White House: Freedom 250 main event on Sunday. According to reports, the original plan was for Topuria to challenge Makhachev for the welterweight title.
Topuria (17-0) initially blamed Makhachev (28-1) for the matchup falling through. Even Dana White said that Makhachev was out with a hand injury. However, Makhachev has thoroughly denied being injured or turning down a fight against Topuria. Makhachev recently reiterated that he had accepted the offer without any hesitation. However, Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, called him the very next day to inform that the booking was off. Makhachev claims negotiations failed when Topuria’s manager, Malki Kawa, demanded an insane fight purse. The Dagestani champ also notes that Kawa had himself admitted turning down the fight due to inadequate pay.
“I can show you the chats with my manager… He called me, ‘The White House event, a fight against Topuria.’ And I said, ‘Let’s go,’ right away,” Makhachev told Red Corner MMA. “I didn’t even ask for it, but Ali said that the pay would be higher because it was the White House. And I said, ‘It’s even better.’ But the next day he called me and said, ‘It’s cancelled.’ I said, ‘Why, what went wrong?’ And he told me that [Topuria] asked for some insane money. And that was it… His manager himself said it in an interview, ‘The money we were offered for the fight was not enough, so we turned it down.’... Ilia may say whatever he wants, but it was his manager who negotiated.”
Kawa said that they had initially chosen Makhachev over Gaethje. However, Kawa claims the money offered wasn’t enough for a booking as big as Makhachev.
Continue reading...
