Islam Makhachev, Ilia Topuria trade barbs over lightweight champion vacating title to move up to welterweight

The pair of top pound for pound fighters could have had a superfight over the summer that now appears dead in the water

Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev are both moving up in weight, preventing a fight from two of the UFC's biggest stars, but that hasn't kept the two from engaging in a war of words.

Topuria vacated his featherweight championship to move to lightweight where he will challenge Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 for the vacant 155-pound title Makhachev vacated in advance of his move to welterweight to face new champion Jack Della Maddalena at a date to be announced. Topuria has taken issue with Makhachev attempting to jump in weight for a title opportunity when Makhachev did not afford him the same opportunity during Makhachev's reign as lightweight champion.

"He's the biggest hypocrite I've ever seen in my life," Topuria said in a recent EuroSport interview. "He told me he wouldn't give me a chance because I was the smaller guy, and now he's the small one seeking the same opportunity I wanted. So, it's like he criticized a decision, an action of mine, when he's now doing the exact same thing. I've never seen such hypocrisy, but that's how he's being advised, I guess."

Makhachev responded to the interview with a post on X, claiming to have already conquered all relevant challenges at lightweight while Topuria was "running" from the best available challenges at featherweight after making only one defense of his title.

"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 (featherweight) division," Mkhachev's post read. "You are nobody in (lightweight) division, just a big mouth from Spain with nice haircut. Go get one W, and we can talk boy."

Makhachev had made four successful defenses of the lightweight title prior to vacating the belt, though two of those defenses came against then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. He also sits atop the UFC's official pound-for-pound rankings. Topuria, ranked No. 3 pound-for-pound, only made one defense of his featherweight title prior to vacating.

Topuria wasn't content to let Makhachev's attack slide, responding with his own post on X.

"The difference between you and me is that I am a man and you are a coward. I speak and fight. you talk and hide. Run away far, leaving no trace," Topuria wrote, before adding one final statement written in Russian, "You are a little boy."