It appears that the prospect of fighting at the White House in 2026 has become one of the most lucrative opportunities for many of the top stars in the promotion. Lightweight champion Ilia Topuria also joined the conversation recently when he called out Islam Makhachev to butt heads inside the campus of the Oval Office. While Dana White has yet to start working on the potential card for the event, Makhachev has given his verdict on the idea of fighting Topuria on President Donald Trump’s birthday, and the 155lbs champ is in luck.

“I want to fight Islam Makhachev at the White House,” said Ilia Topuria, without mincing his words regarding what he wants to do next. At the moment, the Dagestan native is preparing for the biggest fight of his career at UFC 322 against Jack Della Maddalena. Regardless, Makhachev is planning his next move, and he does envision himself squaring off against Topuria.

Islam Makhachev is open to fighting Ilia Topuria at the White House

At this point in his career, Islam Makhachev wants nothing more than to do what his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, could never do — win a second belt. But then again, he seems to have a few opponents planned out and believes that there are more fights left for him after UFC 322, while the fans wait to see who Ilia Topuria fights next. “I don’t know who’s gonna be next for Ilia. If you talk about our fight, I have good fights now. I know he’s gonna fight soon. We will see what’s gonna be happening,” Makhachev told ESPN MMA.

Makhachev also believes that Ilia Topuria could be fighting soon as well, at least once before being available for the White House event. The former lightweight champion understands that Dana White and Co. will try to put out the best card they can with the biggest matchups. While some people are talking about either Jon Jones or Conor McGregor being the main draw of the event, Makhachev claims his fight against Ilia Topuria should be the one the UFC considers.

“He wants to fight in White House, and I also want to do that,” Islam Makhachev added. “I think… if people want this fight, if UFC wants this fight, we can do this… I know UFC wants to do like, some big fight in White House. Which fight in MMA is bigger than this?”

Islam Makhachev may believe that this is the fight fans want, but the fans have been vocal about it when Ilia Topuria called him out. For them, ‘El Matador’ has a lot to do as the lightweight champion before even entertaining the thought of fighting the former champion. For Makhachev, he may have to stop thinking about fighting at the White House because Jack Della Maddalena’s coach claims that beating him will be somewhat easy for the Aussie star.

Jack Della Maddalena’s coach makes a bold claim about Makhachev

Nobody expected Jack Della Maddalena to bring out the best in Belal Muhammad when they fought at UFC 315. But what surprised fans the most was how easily he was able to tackle the Palestinian star’s wrestling prowess. Now, he’s going up against Belal’s teammate, who, according to his coach, Ben Vickers, will go down much easily than ‘Remember the Name’.

“I think it might actually be a bit easier than the Belal fight, just given the styles and that,” Jack Della Maddalena’s coach told Southern Cross Combat. “Belal’s a bit more unorthodox, so a bit harder to cope with, whereas Islam’s a more traditional sort of striker. Obviously, a slightly smaller guy, and I don’t doubt that he’s going to put the weight on.”

Well, Islam Makhahev has a point to prove now that his opponent’s coach is somewhat downplaying the challenge he’s offering Jack Della Maddalena. Nevertheless, do you think fighting Ilia Topuria at the White House should be next for the Dagestan native? Drop your comments below.