Before leaving the lightweight division, Makhachev was expected to face Topuria in a title defense but after Muhammad lost his belt to Della Maddalena, that opened the door for him to finally make the move to welterweight. Makhachev never wanted to face Muhammad as they had become close friends and training partners in recent years.

NEW YORK – Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman have history – and now, there are some parallels. That's according to Edwards (22-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC), who fights Saturday vs. Carlos Prates in a pivotal welterweight bout at UFC 322. The event takes place at Madison Square Garden.

Islam Makhachev is already planning his first welterweight title defense. But in order for the former lightweight champion to score a potential showdown against ex-welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman, he must first get past reigning 170-pound titleholder Jack Della Maddalena atop the UFC 322 pay-per-view (PPV) event this weekend in New York.

Kamaru Usman doesn't discount Islam Makhachev's chances moving up in weight to fight welterweight titleholder Jack Della Maddalena. The former UFC lightweight

Usman (21-4 MMA, 16-3 UFC) told MMA Junkie on Monday that he is angling to challenge the winner of Saturday's welterweight title headliner between reigning champ Jack Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and former lightweight king Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC), who moves up in weight.

Planning his retirement tour, former UFC champion Kamaru Usman has two fights in mind when it comes to his final Octagon go-around. Returning to his former welterweight stomping ground earlier this summer, Kamaru Usman snapped a three-fight losing skid with a unanimous decision win over surging contender Joaquin Buckley.

UFC 322 fighter Carlos Prates spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his welterweight main card bout vs. Leon Edwards

Kamaru Usman recently shared his thoughts on a potential fight against Belal Muhammad, explaining why he is not interested in facing him next.