Makhachev sends cryptic message in response to pressure from Topuria: “Someone needs to be shut down”

It is one of the two biggest fights that can be made this year in the UFC and the American company knows it. The hypothetical confrontation between the lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, and the former featherweight champion (who left his title vacant), Ilia Topuria, is giving a lot to talk about. According to sources consulted by ABC, the negotiation "is going to be slow" , but it is the path that is being pushed at the moment.

What we are experiencing these weeks is a constant tug-of-war. On the one hand, Makhachev's agent, Rizvan Magomedov, said that Topuria should have "a contender fight" against Charles Oliveira or Dustin Poirier beforehand. On the other hand, Topuria's agent, Malki Kawa, said that "it was logical that they didn't want to fight Ilia because he's the bogeyman." Pressure from one side and the other.

The reality is that the UFC is in charge of all this and the executives are aware that Topuria vs Makhachev is the fight that the fans want to see right now. The framework in which they are working is UFC 317, which will take place on June 28 at the International Fight Week in Las Vegas. However, everything remains up in the air. Those close to Topuria say that the Russian champion does not want to accept.

Meanwhile, Makhachev himself has posted a cryptic message on social media, probably directed at El Matador. “Someone needs to be extinguished,” the Dagestani wrote in a selfie in which he appears next to two fire extinguishers. Many mixed martial arts fans have taken this text as an endorsement from the Russian in view of his possible fight against Topuria. But so far there has been no progress.

The truth is that, in this type of big fights, the UFC has experience in promoting fights. So it would be likely that they already know that this is the main event of UFC 317, but they are letting social networks and the media do their job: to make people talk about a rivalry that promises to be historic . In the next few weeks we will find out. Spain will be very attentive to Topuria's next challenge.