Ilia Topuria is targeting history-making UFC White House fight despite Dana White’s recent comments

Topuria targeting White House fight instead of January return

Earlier this week, UFC boss Dana White hinted that the Spaniard would potentially headline the first numbered event of 2026, marking the beginning of a new era for the promotion.

Despite that, the 28-year-old has declared that he is instead targeting an appearance on the UFC’s upcoming event at the White House, which is scheduled to take place on June 14.

“I want to fight Islam Makhachev at the White House. It would be one of the biggest fights in UFC history. No one has fought for a third title,” Topuria recently claimed during a press conference in Georgia.

“Islam finished his old division with complete dominance and changed weight classes, so I think it will be a huge, magnetic fight,” he continued.

The UFC were widely criticized for dropping the ball and not making Topuria vs Islam Makhachev when the Russian was the lightweight champion.

Ever since, ‘El Matador’ has continued to claim that he wants to move up to 170lbs to take him on in a history-making fight, if Makhachev beats Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322.

With the UFC White House event scheduled to be the biggest UFC event of all time, the promotion will undoubtedly look to put on a marquee main event, and Makhachev vs Topuria is the biggest fight they could possibly make.

Could Topuria still fight in January before White House event?

Although ‘El Matador’ has made it clear he is targeting a return on the White House event, that isn’t to say that he couldn’t also compete in January.

If he was to defend his 155lb title in January, the two likely contenders are currently the aforementioned Pimblett, and longtime contender Justin Gaethje.

Despite that, Gaethje’s manager Ali Abdelaziz recently dropped a hint on social media that ‘The Highlight’ may not be getting the next title shot, claiming that ‘we all know this is a business’.