UFC 315 made some strange bedfellows. Islam Makhachev, who considers Belal Muhammad a ‘brother’, was seemingly hoping for ‘Bully B’ to lose his 170-pound title at UFC 315 so he could move up and fight for the welterweight title. On the other hand, Ilia Topuria, whom Muhammad has ridiculed as having a Napoleon Complex, would have been desperately praying to god that the Palestinian-American wins so he could fight Makhachev at UFC 317 for the lightweight title.
And in the end, Makhachev did get his wish as Jack Della Maddalena put on a striking clinic at UFC 315 and won a well-deserved unanimous decision, even as ‘Bully B’ fought valiantly to the last. The Dagestani has confirmed his intentions to move up right after the fight, too. “Time to become a double champion #inshaAllah Let’s go,” Makhachev wrote on X after the fight.
And this did not go down well with UFC welterweight star Joaquin Buckley, who found Makhachev hoping for his friend’s loss and his jubilant message straight after the loss dishonorable ‘wild’. “Crazy praying for your so-called brothers down fall #InshaAllahIsWild,” Buckley replied.
Crazy praying for your so called brothers down fall #InshaAllahIsWild https://t.co/7LPs0N1oAF
— Joaquin New Mansa Buckley (@Newmansa94) May 11, 2025
To be fair, Makhachev never said he wanted Muhammad to lose. The lightweight just planned on moving up if he did. And the aforementioned tweet that Buckley took exception to doesn’t really pray for Muhammad to lose since it was sent after ‘Bully B’ lost.
And fans, as you can imagine, had a lot to say about the whole thing. Here’s a sample of what the fans thought of Makhachev’s tweet and Buckley’s reply to the lightweight champ.
Fans react to Joaquin Buckley’s flaming of Islam Makhachev after UFC 315 headliner
Buckley, of course, is set to face Kamaru Usman in June atop the UFC Atlanta card. A win for him there would help him make a case for a title shot in the near future. But with the welterweight title picture, crowded as it is, one fan felt that Buckley was just upset that Makhachev’s addition to welterweight would delay his title shot: “You’re just salty because you won’t be getting anywhere near the title for the next 2 years minimum.”
Another, however, did not agree with this sentiment and felt that Buckley was just pointing out that Makhachev was being a bad friend by at least hoping that Muhammad would lose so he could get a double champ shot: “Buckley is more good to Belal than his fake friend Islam ”
Another fan pointed out that Buckley was probably mixing up and how Makhachev didn’t really pray for Muhammad to lose, only that he becomes a double champ: “He posted this after the fight, and Inshallah means God Willing, he’s not thanking God for the outcome.”
One keen-eyed fan, however, smelled hypocrisy in Makhachev wanting to move up and fight for the welterweight title straight away when he wanted Ilia Topuria to ‘prove himself’ by fighting another top contender when ‘El Matador’ moved up to lightweight: “How come Ilia has to fight a top 5 contender to get title shot but Islam doesn’t?”
Another fan felt that Buckley shouldn’t really call out Makhachev since it wasn’t actually the Dagestani who posted that message on X, but his manager, Ali Abdelaziz: “Bro, it’s Ali tweeting that guy is sick in his head.”
Another fan was astonished how quickly Islam Makhachev went from consoling Belal Muhammad after the loss to talking about his plans to win ‘Bully B’s old title: “Said head up champ and not even 2 minutes later talking about double champ status ”
One fan was apparently so incensed and offended at Joaquin Buckley’s comments that they sincerely wished Kamaru Usman stops him in their much-awaited upcoming clash: “Usman’s gonna put you to sleep”.
What do you think about Joaquin Buckley’s take on Islam Makhachev’s post-UFC 315 X post?
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