The lightweight title picture continues to be murky.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Islam Makhachev vacated his lightweight title to move up to welterweight and pursue a second belt. On Saturday, he accomplished his goal, dominating Jack Della Maddalena in the main event of UFC 322. The performance was roundly praised, including by lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett, who reacted to the bout on his YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPound for pound No. 1, lad. Unbelievable performance,\u201d Pimblett said. \u201cI think he goes down as one of the best ever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe mentioned the White House, but I think he\u2019ll defend his belt before the White House. The White House isn\u2019t until July, is it? Let\u2019s see what happens. You never know. Ilia\u2019s been saying he wants to go up and fight him, but you\u2019ve got other contenders there now. [Michael] Morales, [Carlos] Prates, you\u2019ve then got Ian Garry if he beats Belal [Muhammad] next week. Shavkat [Rakhmonov] as well, who needs to come back. He\u2019s been the No. 1 contender for about a year. They\u2019re all exciting matchups for Islam.<\/p>\n \u201cThe welterweight division, at the moment, could be becoming more exciting than the lightweight division. I don\u2019t think any division has been more exciting than lightweight in over 10 years. Good times for the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n But perhaps not good times for Pimblett. After Makhachev vacated his title to move up, then-featherweight champion Ilia Topuria dropped his belt to go to lightweight, winning the vacant title earlier this summer at UFC 317. Pimblett and Topuria have a long-standing beef, and Pimblett even entered the cage after UFC 317 to potentially set up a lightweight title fight, but thus far, that bout has yet to materialize. And following Makhachev\u2019s win on Saturday, Topuria issued a challenge to his would-be foe.<\/p>\n \u201cJack needs an entire camp dedicated just to wrestling. What a disappointment of a champion. You should go to Georgia to learn something.<\/p>\n \u201cIslam, you need something you can\u2019t train: emotion. You\u2019re the most boring thing in this game. Every day I\u2019m more certain I put you to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n With Makhachev saying he\u2019s open to defending against Topuria if the UFC wants it, that leaves Pimblett\u2019s contender status up in the air. But \u201cThe Baddy\u201d is keeping things simple.<\/p>\n \u201cAll for me now is, let\u2019s see what\u2019s happening with Islam, because is Ilia going to stick to his word and he\u2019s saying he\u2019s going to move up, or is he going to stick to his other word and say he\u2019s going to fight me next?\u201d Pimblett said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening, do we? You never know, I could end up fighting Ilia, could end up finally fighting Justin Gaethje. \u2026 But no one knows what\u2019s happening, do they? Until Islam decides what he\u2019s doing, because I know Ilia\u2019s saying he wants to fight him. But I\u2019ll be fighting early next year, no matter who it is, I\u2019ll have an opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n Champ. Islam Makhachev responds to Ilia Topuria, Michael Morales callouts: \u2018I will make it easy.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Brawl. Dana White blames himself for UFC 322 brawl, bans Dillon Danis from future events<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bullet. Valentina Shevchenko is open to fight Kayla Harrison or Amanda Nunes, but also \u2018good challengers\u2019 at flyweight<\/a>.<\/p>\n Critic. Chael Sonnen critical of Jack Della Maddalena after UFC 322 loss to Islam Makhachev: \u2018I feel Jack underperformed.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Fans. Bo Nickal explains why he gave double middle fingers to the UFC 322 Crowd: \u2018I stood up for myself.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Boxing. Dana White reacts to Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua rumors: \u2018That\u2019s a f*cking bad idea.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Reaction from Belal Muhammad.<\/p>\n SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE<\/p>\n DC and Islam cracking jokes at Khabib.<\/p>\n There are 1-year-olds who have never been alive to see Arnold Allen fight.<\/p>\n If the UFC books Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev, we\u2019ve completely lost the plot. Both men have a half-dozen guys to fight in their weight classes, and Topuria is not remotely a welterweight. Please, stop trying to make \u201cfetch\u201d happen.<\/p>\n If you find something you\u2019d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee<\/a> or @JedKMeshew<\/a> on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, and like us on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n