Islam Makhachev has issued a measured response to Ilia Topuria’s recent comments. For context, Topuria recently claimed that Makhachev is afraid to fight him and hasn’t faced an opponent like ‘El Matador’ yet.
The Georgian-Spaniard also promised to knock out the 34-year-old, but would also not hesitate to submit him and then step on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s head.
In an interview with Eldoberdan MMA, Topuria also joked:
“I consider the ground to be my strong point, but lately I’ve accepted that it’s not what the crowd wants to see, although with Islam it might be something the crowd wants to see. Dominate him standing, give him three or four punches where I need to hit him, and then put him in front of Khabib and if he wants to pass, I’m happy to step on his head too.”
Watch Ilia Topuria’s unprovoked criticism of Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov below:
In response to Topuria’s comments, fans expected Makhachev to come up with a fiery response. However, the P4P king believes there is a misunderstanding, which is why Topuria harbors so much animosity towards Team Khabib.
Islam Makhachev responds to Ilia Topuria’s comments
Islam Makhachev, in a recent interview with Ushataykasaid he expects to bury the hatchet with Ilia Topuria in the future. However, he also wouldn’t mind putting it in the octagon. The Dagestan wrestling maestro said:
“I don’t know. We can feel it. He has some kind of hatred for us, but I think we’ll sort that out. Before the fight, somehow, or maybe in the future. Right now he’s on some kind of break. Maybe in the future we’ll put it in the cage and see. He’s not happy about something. We have to find out what it is.”
Watch Islam Makhachev’s comments below:
Topuria is currently on hiatus due to personal reasons and is expected to fight after the first quarter of 2026. ‘El Matador’ wants to move up to welterweight and dethrone the Russian fighter, or even play the latter at catchweight for the P4P throne.
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