Makhachev eyes August title defense against Garry after Champions League final

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: Islam Makhachev of Russia reacts to his win over Jack Della Maddalena of Australia in the UFC welterweight championship fight during the UFC 322 event at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Islam Makhachev’s return is imminent and all signs point to him defending his welterweight title this August against Ian Machado Garry. The UFC champion made an appearance at this past weekend’s Champions League final in Budapest, Hungary, where Paris Saint-Germain captured its second straight European crown after defeating Arsenal in a penalty shootout. Makhachev covered a number of topics in a chat with UFC on TNT Sports, including when he expects to return and whether he expects to fight Garry or someone else. “Right after here I’m going to camp and I don’t know, August, I will be ready,” Makhachev said. “A lot of contenders, but No. 1 is Ian Garry and we have still a couple more who want to take the belt, but I don’t give to no one.” Islam Makhachev hints at an August return and a potential showdown with Ian Garry 👀 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nuW2PI6gug — UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) May 31, 2026 Islam Makhachev believes it's Ilia Topuria's time to reign at Lightweight heading into the Justin Gaethje fight at the White House 🏆#Freedom250 | #UFCWhiteHouse | Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max pic.twitter.com/VcAiz0kEsr — UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) May 31, 2026 Islam Makhachev says Conor McGregor's return is good for the sport but is picking Max Holloway to defeat him 👀#UFC329 | Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max pic.twitter.com/RenE6Tz5nO — UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) May 31, 2026 Should Makhachev move on to fight and defeat Garry, his next challenger could be rival Ilia Topuria, who defeated Charles Oliveira to capture a lightweight title that Makhachev vacated, and is set to take on interim champion Justin Gaethje in a unification bout at UFC White House on June 14. Topuria has frequently lobbied for a superfight with Makhachev, but Makhachev remains noncommital, even though he favors Topuria to successfully defend his title. “Topuria is a new generation, but Gaethje, I still believe Gaethje can do some things but he’s a little bit old right now,” Makhachev said. “He’s a good fighter, legend, he showed us very, very good many, many fights, but now I think it’s Topuria’s time for lightweight.” Makhachev was also asked for his thoughts on the return of Conor McGregor, who fights Max Holloway at UFC 329 on July 11. The rematch marks McGregor’s first in-cage appearance since 2021. Despite Makhachev’s contentious history with McGregor—Makhachev was infamously part of the UFC 229 post-fight melee when longtime friend Khabib Nurmagomedov incited a brawl with McGregor’s team—he sees it as a positive that McGregor is bringing his star power back to the UFC. “It’s good, it’s good,” Makhachev said. “Big name for our sport, but he has a tough opponent. Max Holloway against Conor, I think Max can beat him.” TOP STORIES Matchmaker. Arman Tsarukyan implores Ilia Topuria to fight Islam Makhachev. GOATs. Topuria gives his MMA Mount Rushmore. Debut. Darren Till smoked Aaron Chalmers in his first appearance for BKFC. Wait. But it doesn’t sound like Mike Perry is next for Till just yet. Statement. Song Yadong triumphed in his home country with a submission over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau. Robbery? Holly Holm lost to Stephanie Han again, but did the judges score the rematch correctly? Shame. Darko Stosic knocked out an overweight Greg Hardy. VIDEO STEW RAF 9 post-event coverage. UFC Macau post-fight show. KO mystery game with Paddy Pimblett. UFC White House trailer. What a moment. FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR On to the Next One. Alexander K. Lee picks future fights for Song Yadong, Alonzo Menifield, Sergei Pavlovich, Kai Asakura, and the rest of UFC Macau’s big winners, with a huge helping hand from the always amazing OTTNO listeners. SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE My takeaway from the weekend: UFC Macau pic.twitter.com/RuYAMtqNVb — Alexander K Lee (@AlexanderKLee) May 30, 2026 Still the best MMA retirement ever. During his concert in Montreal, country star Luke Combs brought out Georges St-Pierre to shotgun a beer with him during his performance of his hit song “1, 2 Many” A collab the MMA world never saw coming 👊🤠 . . #ufc #mma pic.twitter.com/YJFdxD7wBC — Verbal Sparring MMA (@verbalsparmma) May 31, 2026 America. An updated look at the South Lawn ahead of UFC Freedom 250 🇺🇸 #UFCWhiteHouse https://t.co/pbzHEpJuzW pic.twitter.com/B0oYybSiFt — UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) May 31, 2026 Wait, what was supposed to happen? View this post on Instagram I mean… it could work? View this post on Instagram Whoa. AND NEWWWWWW 👑🇧🇷 Riran Zenidim delivers a lightning-fast knockout to the now former Champion Freddy Gonzales(9-3) and wins the Fighters Cage bantamweight title in Paraguay. 8 FKGN SECONDS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/1LV84TpWrY — Rickson Zenidim👑 (@thekingzenidim) May 31, 2026 OK. Chin strikes? pic.twitter.com/50cvHWhmoz — Chris (@WCK252660) May 29, 2026 FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS Bryce Mitchell (18-3) vs. Santiago Luna (8-0); UFC Vegas 118, June 6 Arman Tsarukyan vs. Colby Covington (wrestling); RAF 11, July 18 FEED ME MORE Spurs in five. FINAL THOUGHTS What a weirdly eventful weekend. UFC Macau kicked off before the sun rose over on our side of the world, Darren Till made his BKFC debut, and RAF 9 delivered another headline-stealing card with Arman Tsarukyan, Merab Dvalishvili, Colby Covington, and Gable Steveson all picking up wins. There’s not shortage of options for even the most casual combat sports fan these days. Good times. EXIT POLL If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKLee of @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and like us on Facebook.

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Islam Makhachev vs. Ian Machado Garry could be booked soon