Islam Makhachev was expected to step up and face Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 272 after his original opponent fell out. There ended up being a lot of controversies as there was talk of him turning the fight down.
Rafael dos Anjos ended up facing Renato Moicano instead and Islam Makhachev is expected to face Beneil Dariush instead of fighting for the UFC title. The Russian recently revealed what exactly happened with the fight.
“I'd been in California on vacation. I wake up and call my manager – ‘Hey Ali (Abdelaziz), I saw some news. Please call UFC and say I am ready to take this fight,'” Makhachev told ESPN's Brett Okamoto. “I ask about some conditions. Very small conditions. Nothing big or not possible to do. … But the UFC not do it.
“That's why this fight not happen. And that's it.”
The UFC and Dana White currently want to rebook the fight with Beneil Dariush as some sort of punishment for not taking the Rafael dos Anjos fight. Islam Makhachev is still hoping for the next title fight with Justin Gaethje set to challenge Charles Oliveira.
“If Oliveira beats Gaethje, 11-win streak versus 10-win streak, this is similar (to) Khabib (Nurmagomedov) and Tony (Ferguson),” Makhachev said. “This is biggest fight in lightweight division.”
It will be interesting to see if the UFC chooses to go with Islam Makhachev for the next title shot or if they make him fight Beneil Dariush. Conor McGregor is around and could potentially jump the line as well.