Islam Makhachev vacating belt to face Jack Della Maddalena for UFC welterweight title

Islam Makhachev is taking his talents to welterweight with a fight booked against new champion Jack Della Maddalena, date and location for the matchup still to be determined.

With Makhachev officially moving to 170 pounds, UFC CEO Dana White announced that he’s vacating his lightweight title to pursue gold in a new division. Ilia Topuria now faces Charles Oliveira to crown a new lightweight champion at UFC 317 in June.

As for Makhachev, his path towards winning a second world championship was cleared after his friend and frequent training partner, Belal Muhammad, suffered a loss to Della Maddalena this past weekend at UFC 315.

As long as Muhammad was champion, Makhachev vowed that he wouldn’t move up to welterweight, but that all changed after Della Maddalena captured the belt with an impressive unanimous decision win.

Immediately after the fight was over, Della Maddalena said he welcomed the fight with Makhachev, and now he’ll get his wish with the fight expected later this year.

Makhachev takes the fight as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport with hopes of becoming a two-division champion.

White said that both fighters have agreed to the matchup but now it’s just a matter of figuring out a date and location for the fight, although Della Maddalena has already been pushing for his home country of Australia as a potential landing spot.

Either way, Della Maddalena vs. Makhachev is set to happen later this year as the longest reigning lightweight champion in UFC history takes a stab at winning gold in a new division.