Magomed Ankalaev's title win could lead to Islam Makhachev headlining marquee UFC PPV in America, claims MMA veteran

Islam Makhachev is the reigning UFC lightweight champion and currently holds the top position in the pound-for-pound rankings. A UFC welterweight believes Makhachev could headline International Fight Week later this year after Magomed Ankalaev dethroned Alex Pereira.

International Fight Week will be underway in late June, culminating with UFC 317 on the 28th. The pay-per-view doesn't have any confirmed fights yet, and the annual summer event in Las Vegas usually features one of the promotion's top stars in the headlining role.

With Pereira, one of the most popular fighters in the sport, seemingly unlikely to return by June, UFC veteran Michael Chiesa believes Makhachev could now headline the marquee event. In a recent episode of The Bohnfire, Chiesa said:

"The timing seems absolutely perfect, and you have to think like when you have champions like Islam Makhachev, you want to save him for marquee for specific markets. So, obviously, you want to keep him for Abu Dhabi, but Magomed Ankalaev just won the title, and it sounds like they want to do the rematch in Abu Dhabi. So, that frees up Islam to fight state-side International Fight Week."

Check out Michael Chiesa's comments below (33:28):

The UFC lightweight champion secured a victory over Renato Moicano at UFC 311 earlier this year. This was Makhachev's fourth title defense, a new record at lightweight. The Russian has notably indicated that he'll eventually move up to welterweight, but with the 170-pound title set to be contested in May, his next bout is more than likely going to be at 155 pounds for his fifth title defense.

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Michael Chiesa names the ideal opponent for Islam Makhachev

Islam Makhachev has several potential challengers for his next title defense. Arman Tsarukyan and Charles Oliveira are both seeking rematches with the Dagestani, while Justin Gaethje recently returned to the win column and is in the title mix.

While Michael Chiesa believes Tsarukyan deserves a shot at gold, the more enticing matchup to cap off International Fight Week is Makhachev taking on former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who vacated the 145-pound belt in pursuit of lightweight gold. In the same interview, 'Maverick' said:

"I think that for International Fight Week, you want to put together the most marquee matchup you can. While I do think that, it should be Arman [Tsarukyan] fighting for the title next. If we're talking about International Fight Week, in the headliner, that's not the fight to make. The fight to make is absolutely Islam vs. Ilia [Topuria]" [34:15]