However, Islam Makhachev did keep his 170-pound dreams alive and had to play the fence. A Jack Della Maddalena win guaranteed he is now safe to proceed with realizing his dual-division dreams.

Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev would’ve been the biggest UFC fight since Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov. Up there with Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall as the most anticipated fight of the ...