DANA WHITE has announced the return date for UFC welterweight king Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev hasn’t set foot inside the cage since becoming a two-division champion with a shutout victory over Jack Della Maddalena at Madison Square Garden last November.
The Russian was briefly in contention to headline the UFC‘s White House card on June 14 against Ilia Topuria, but the fight ultimately didn’t come to fruition.
His manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently claimed he’d be back in action in July, telling TMZ: “After that, Islam got offered a different fight, at welterweight, to be the main event.
“And Islam said, ‘Hey, let’s do this in July.’ He has some stuff going on, Dana [White] speak about it.
“But I can tell you this: If this fight was offered in June, and Islam even have on one leg, he would have [done] the fight.
“But in a way Islam already has a fight in the summer, we have a welterweight No. 1 contender match against someone.
“It’s a done deal already, and the UFC will announce it probably soon.”
UFC CEO and President Dana White, however, has shut down Abdelaziz’s claim of a June joust for Makhachev.
The veteran promoter took to Instagram to reveal that Dagestani will be back in the cage this coming August.
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In response to a post referencing Abdelaziz’s comments, White wrote: “Not true, it’s August.”
White doubled down on August being the targeted month for Makhachev’s return during the UFC Seattle post-fight press conference.
He said: “Ali was out there talking and saying July. It’s August that we’re looking at.”
Makhachev has a litany of welterweights champing at the bit to be his first title defence.
Ecuadorian Michael Morales is in the mix following his knockout of Sean Brady last November at UFC 322.
As is Carlos Prates, who knocked out Brit Leon Edwards just moments before Morales stopped Brady.
Irishman Ian Machado Garry is also one of the front-runners following his decision victory over former champion Belal Muhammad last November.
Garry has been the most vocal of the trio over the last few months, publicly calling out Makhachev and questioning his reported hand injury on social media.
