Ilia Topuria’s manager says the UFC did not end up actively negotiating a White House fight with Islam Makhachev. According to Malki Kawa, Topuria’s camp first got a choice between Justin Gaethje and Islam Makhachev, rejected the pay attached to both options, and then got a late return call only after being told Makhachev could not fight because of a hand issue. By Kawa’s account, the actual overnight negotiation for the June White House card was for Gaethje, not Makhachev. That directly answers the recent claim that Topuria turned down Makhachev over money, a point already hanging over the matchup after Makhachev accused Topuria of pricing himself out.
Kawa described the beginning of the process this way. He said:
“The Monday before [the White House card was announced], I called and said, ‘Hey, are you guys gonna use Ilia Topuria for this [White House] card?’ The answer was no,” Kawa said on Instagram Live. “Wednesday comes around, I get a phone call that says, ‘Hey, he could fight. It’s his choice: Justin Gaethje or Islam Makhachev. And I immediately said, ‘S–t, we want Islam.’”
He then explained why that first conversation went nowhere. Kawa said:
“They said, ‘Okay. Great. We’ll give you X number for you to fight him. And I said, ‘Bro, that never will happen.’ They said, ‘Here’s the number and you have a choice.’ … It’s not like they offered me Islam and I said no to Islam. I said no to Islam and Gaethje. We weren’t gonna fight [at the White House]. The number was so low we didn’t want nothing to do with it.”
Kawa says the late-night UFC call was about Gaethje, not Makhachev
Kawa said the next contact came two days later. He explained:
“That was on Wednesday,” Kawa continued. “Friday comes. They didn’t speak to me. I didn’t speak to them. I go to bed. 10 at night, I go to sleep. At 11:59 to the T, I get a phone call. I’m getting blown up by my brother. He’s blowing me up. ‘Hey, bro. Hunter just called me. They want Ilia to take the fight. They want Ilia to fight.’ Called Hunter. Said ‘What’s up?’ ‘We want Ilia to fight.’ I said, ‘Okay. Islam?’ ‘Islam can’t fight. His hand is messed up.’”
He followed that with the central point of his timeline.
“That Friday night, I’m on the phone with UFC brass, and we’re negotiating. And I told you guys this. All night we negotiated. That negotiation was for Justin Gaethje. Islam Makhachev was never an actual option.”
Topuria’s recent record explains why his team wanted the biggest available fight. He stopped Alexander Volkanovski to win the featherweight title, knocked out Max Holloway in his first title defense, and then beat Charles Oliveira after moving into the lightweight title picture. Those three names gave him wins over a former long-reigning champion, another former champion who had never been knocked out before, and a former lightweight champion. That is the run behind the push for Makhachev.
Makhachev’s side of the matchup is just as clear. He submitted Charles Oliveira to win the lightweight belt, then defended it against Alexander Volkanovski twice, including a first-round knockout in their rematch. He also beat Dustin Poirier and has spent his title run doing exactly what champions are supposed to do, beating the best names the UFC put in front of him. That is why this fight kept coming up, and why Makhachev’s response to the Ilia Topuria and Michael Morales photo gets attention.
Next time I’ll ask for more money then since we’re so scared. Hope this shows you goofys I never lied to you. Stupid fxxks pic.twitter.com/9HwwHGTcKm
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) April 9, 2026
Kawa also pushed back on the idea that asking for more money in this matchup equals ducking. He said:
“Who’s ducking who? I’m still standing here today in front of you guys and telling you I never once said Islam was ducking anybody,” he said. “Everybody agrees that Islam and Ilia might be the biggest fight in UFC history. Don’t you guys think that should have the biggest payday in UFC history? I’d be a damn fool to take that fight for less than the right numbers for that fight. Why would I do that? It’s not like I asked for $100 million. I didn’t ask for $50 million. I asked for a number that I think is super reasonable.”
He also said Topuria still wants the fight. Kawa said:
“You guys are telling me that Ilia Topuria is running from Islam Makhachev? We’re asking for that fight. We actually wanna move up to 170, fight them there and win that third belt. So after this fight, what’s gonna happen is we’re gonna have that conversation again. And it’ll be up to the UFC again whether or not we get that fight. But the numbers have to be right.”
That keeps Makhachev in the picture even if the White House card version fell apart.
Kawa finished by describing how Topuria reacted when he got the overnight call. He said:
“When I called Ilia at that time, I want you guys to understand at midnight my time, I think it was like six in the morning in Spain. ‘Hey bro, they want you to fight on the White House.’ So he’s laughing at me. ‘Oh really? Okay. Islam?’ And I said, ‘No, they said Islam’s hand is hurting. He laughed again. He was like, ‘Man, f–k. At some point that guy’s gotta fight me.”
Watch the full interview below:
Gaethje still matters in this story because he was the fighter Kawa says the UFC actually negotiated for that night. He remains one of the division’s biggest names, and Topuria already predicted a fast first-round finish against Gaethje. But Kawa’s full explanation was aimed at one issue more than any other. He wanted to shut down the claim that Topuria looked at Makhachev and backed away.
