What’s Next for New Welterweight Champion Islam Makhachev Following Dominant Title Victory at UFC 322?
Islam Makhachev is now a two-weight UFC World Champion, having dominated Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 to claim the welterweight title. The Dagestani wrestling ace was making his 170-pound debut at Madison Square Garden, having relinquished his lightweight gold, was immediately thrust into the limelight with a title shot. But rather than looking like the smaller man, the former 155-pound king utterly dominated JDM, breaking his spirit with 20-plus minutes of top control to secure a wide unanimous decision win.
As ever in the Octagon, attention immediately turns to what’s next. With next June’s potential White House card beginning to loom, as well as a slew of other huge dates, Makhachev will have plenty of stages on which to shine in 2026. But who is his first welterweight title defense expected to be against? Let’s take a look.
Winner of Ian Garry vs. Belal Muhammad
The upcoming UFC Fight Night Event in Qatar has huge welterweight title implications, primarily because its co-main event between Ian Machado Garry and former champion Belal Muhammad is more than just another fight night scrap. It’s the unofficial golden ticket to a 170-pound title shot in 2026.
On one side stands Garry, the 6’3” Irish phenom, who betting sites currently favor to pick up the biggest win of his career. The latest online UFC betting odds currently make the 26-year-old a narrow 1.36 frontrunner to get the win in the Arabian Gulf, with much of that billing coming from his brash ability to bring Conor McGregor-esque sizzle to press conferences, as well as a venomous left hand to the cage. Should he topple 3.25 underdog Muhammad, it’s marketing dynamite: UFC gets a firebrand striker facing Makhachev’s suffocating wrestling and a press tour laced with insults and tactical intrigue.
Garry claims his evolved takedown defense can “expose” the newly minted champ, while statistics from his last few outings show consistency: impressive victories against Carlos Prates and Michael ‘Venom’ Page, either side of a gutsy defeat to Shavkat Rakhmonov in a fight taken on short notice.
Yet, dismissing Belal Muhammad is a fool’s errand. In fact, history suggests he thrives in the role of disruptor. His 4.05 takedowns per 15 minutes reflect a fighter who never concedes positional priority, while his gas tank is among the best in the business. The Chicago native’s 2025 has been a tour through adversity, firstly an injury forcing a scrap with Rakhmonov to be abandoned, then dropping the title to JDM. Should he upset Garry, then a wrestling-heavy title fight against Makhachev surely looms.
Ilia Topuria
It’s the fight that the world craves more than any other: Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria. The two superstars seemed on a collision course earlier this year when El Matador relinquished his featherweight title in a bid to challenge then-lightweight champion Makhachev for the 155-pound gold. The Dagestani, however, had similar ideas, relinquishing his own lightweight gold to face JDM for the welterweight title.
Since then, Topuria has moved on without Makhachev, inheriting his foe’s old title with a knockout victory against Charles Oliveira. Now, Makhachev has a second title of his own, and all roads seem to be pointing toward the two men finally facing off again, with welterweight or a catchweight most likely. However, the one and perhaps only man who isn’t interested in this fight is Makhachev himself.
Before vacating the lightweight title, he repeatedly stated how he didn’t feel Topuria was deserving of a shot, with him instead focused on legacy-defining fights, as opposed to facing a young and hungry up-and-comer. Surely, it’s only a matter of time before he realizes that this is the biggest fight in the game and the fight that absolutely everybody wants to see? If he doesn’t, murmurings of Makhachev ducking Topuria will only continue to grow.
ILIA TOPURIA EARNS THE ROUND 1 KO TO WIN THE LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP 🇪🇸🏆 #UFC317
— Bodog (@BodogCA) June 29, 2025
Kamaru Usman
As much thrill as there is in fresh contenders, some showdowns are about legacy—two icons crossing paths to crown a GOAT. No one fits that bill more snugly than Kamaru Usman. For a battered welterweight division, his record is a shadow imprinted on every rising name: 15 consecutive UFC wins, five title defenses, and a takedown defense that has frustrated even the finest wrestlers (over 97%).
The Nigerian Nightmare’s 2025 resurgence, highlighted by a clinical dispatching of Joaquin Buckley, proved that at 38, he remains a puzzle unsolved. Even still, though, not many imagined that his name would return to title contention anytime soon, especially with him positioned down in eighth place in the welterweight rankings. Still, though, it is Usman’s name that has been called repeatedly by both Makhachev and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, in the aftermath of the victory against Della Madallena, and an expected title shot would certainly be too big an opportunity to pass up for the former belt holder.
Shavkat Rakhmonov
Finally, there’s Shavkat Rakhmonov—an undefeated knockout artist waiting to finally get his chance. The Kazakh has been both the unluckiest and most dangerous man in the division, denied his crack at gold last December due to an injury to then champion Belal Muhhamad, before injuries of his own have seen him sidelined for much of 2025.
Since returning, Rakhmonov has previously claimed that he is the next in line, pointing back to his “title eliminator” win against Ian Garry last December as proof of his position in the queue. But while he has been on the shelf, many others have stepped up and arguably surpassed him in the rankings. Garry, Carlos Prates, and Michael Morales have all picked up huge victories in recent weeks, results that have seen them leapfrog Rakhmanov in the eyes of many. As such, the fearsome Kazakh may need one last win to rubber-stamp his title-contending credentials once and for all.
