Opinion: Islam Makhachev and the Cautionary Tale of Jon Jones

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Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

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There was no shortage of topics from the incredibly successful UFC 317 show on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Referee quality, rapidly improving prospects, aging champions producing their best showings, vicious knockouts and an epic fight were all fiery discussions to be had. However, none of those were getting nearly as much chatter as the continued ascension of Ilia Topuria to all-time greatness. It’s hard not to have that be top of mind when his run is proving to be of historic proportions.

After knocking out the likes of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway—arguably the two greatest featherweight fighters in the history of the sport—Topuria moved up to lightweight and proceeded to knock Charles Oliveira out cold, something no one else has been able to do. In the process, he claimed the lightweight championship and had observers comparing his run to the likes of Jon Jones, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Conor McGregor. That’s some lofty company, pointing to the type of run that typically only comes around about every five years at most.

It’s notable that Topuria didn’t wrest away the lightweight title from anyone. The previous champion, Islam Makhachev, opted to relinquish the belt and focus on claiming the welterweight crown from Jack Della Maddalena. Makhachev believed there were no more worthwhile challenges at lightweight and wanted to make his focus on adding a title from another weight class to his resume. I don’t believe Makhachev is running from Topuria, even if there’s an appearance of his doing so. After all, Topuria was the one who set the standard in vacating a title in pursuit of another one; he did so in hopes of clashing with Makhachev. Unfortunately for fans, Makhachev followed suit once Della Maddalena upset Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title. Given that Muhammad is a friend of Makhachev, it was the only green light the Russian needed to say he was moving on to newer challenges. It was well-documented that Makhachev was considering a move to 170 pounds. Muhammad being the champion was the only thing holding him back.

Unfortunately for Makhachev, most fans only go skin deep on the issues. They’re going to see that Topuria moved up while calling for a fight with Makhachev, only for the Russian to subsequently move up himself. That looks very much like dodging, even if what Makhachev claims checks out. It doesn’t matter if it checks out if fans don’t hear it, which can also be their choice. Fans don’t care about the reasons why Makhachev might want to move up; they just want him to fight Topuria.

While it doesn’t take a lot of effort to understand Makhachev’s perspective, it isn’t necessarily fair to say fans are being unreasonable, either. They are the ones who ultimately throw their hard-earned dollars at the promotion, and it’s only logical that they would like to get what they asked for in return. I get that the Rolling Stones taught us all a valuable lesson in reminding us that “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” but when there’s a fight that can be made within reason, it should be done. Given that Makhachev’s entire UFC career has been spent at lightweight, it isn’t a reach for fans to expect him to fight Topuria.

Fortunately for Makhachev, he has a recent example of what type of damage can be done to a fighter and his legacy if he chooses to ignore fan sentiment. Nothing has compromised the arguable Greatest of All-Time status of the aforementioned Jones more than his refusal to fight Tom Aspinall. Granted, Jones’ personality has been just as damaging to his reputation, as he mocked fans while refusing to take the fight. That would have been forgiven if he had taken it. He didn’t, and now Jones’ legacy—something he has worked hard to preserve—is tainted by the perception he’s scared to fight Aspinall.

No one has ever taken Makhachev to be a stupid person. He has even made reasoned arguments for why he’s made the choices he has made. While many are claiming he’s ducking Topuria, he believes he already beat the best that the 145-pound division had to offer—twice. Granted, no one believes Topuria and Volkanovski are the same, but Makhachev isn’t wrong in that assessment. Plus, those who believe he’s ducking Arman Tsarukyan might be forgetting Makhachev already beaten him. That doesn’t even mention the fact that the rematch was just hours away from happening before Tsarukyan pulled out. Makhachev was prepared to fight him and believes Tsarukyan did something stupid to force himself out of the contest. In his eyes, Tsarukyan blew his chance. He might be right.

Throw in that fighters who claim gold in multiple divisions tend to receive significant extra shine on their legacies, and it isn’t hard to see why Makhachev believed the move to welterweight was going to be the best thing for his legacy. In terms of historical calculation, Makhachev was making the right moves. However, history doesn’t repeat itself. History rhymes with the past—which is why it’s important to be aware of it—but it never repeats. There has never been a situation where a fighter was moving up from a lower division chasing another fighter who himself intended to move up to another division. Topuria emphatically established himself as the man fans want Makhachev to fight.

Right now, Makhachev is in a difficult position. He vacated the lightweight title, so he’s obligated to challenge Della Maddalena for the welterweight championship next. How foolish would it look if he were to vacate the lightweight title, only to turn around and immediately challenge for the belt he just gave up? So even though Makhachev should feel obligated to face Topuria at some point, it can’t happen right away. Thus, it makes sense to hear the talk about Topuria defending his newly acquired lightweight title. However, once Makhachev has the welterweight belt, he’ll need to train his sights on Topuria if he doesn’t want the fans to turn on him the way they did Jones.

We can’t expect Makhachev to turn his attention immediately to Topuria. Then again, he also can’t ignore Topuria outright, given the immense swell of popularity he has experienced. I pity Della Maddalena and whomever Topuria faces next—Paddy Pimblett is my guess—as they will likely be footnotes as the fans continue to eyeball Topuria-Makhachev. The hope is that fans can be aware of the unique circumstances in which the two men are presently mired. With patience, the fight between them should happen. If things go according to plan, with Topuria and Makhachev both emerging successful in their next contests, it should only taste that much sweeter when we finally get it. Of course, that’s all provided that Makhachev paid attention to Jones’ most recent saga.