UFC 322 was a Welterweight showcase.

Three of the five pay-per-view (PPV) main card bouts were 170-pound contests, and I would argue all three matchups delivered. Sure, nobody is going to award Islam Makhachev vs. Jack Della Maddalena “Fight of the Night” honors, but how can you not be impressed by Makhachev’s pure dominance?

He went up 15 pounds against a fresh young champion in his prime and made it look like “JDM” had never laced up wrestling shoes before despite expert preparation.

I would hope everyone is rather impressed by both Carlos Prates and Michael Morales as well, seeing as the duo took home incredible first-round knockout victories. For different reasons, each athlete feels like they’re cheating with their physical gifts. Prates is incredibly long and lanky, yet it seems like there are bricks at the end of his fists. Former champion Leon Edwards was fighting well right up until Prates slept him with a single left hand, becoming the first man to stop “Rocky” with strikes.

Morales is a downright outstanding athlete. Similarly tall and long, Morales has the added benefit of being outrageously strong. I am unsure how he makes the Welterweight limit, but Morales shrugs off takedowns and punches with ease then swats his opposition like flies. Sean Brady was on a tremendous run, yet all his ground mastery did little to prevent him from getting clubbed by the 25 year old from Ecuador.

If the Welterweight talent at UFC 322 weren’t enough, we have Ian Garry vs. Belal Muhammad next week at UFC Qatar, Shavkat Rakhmonov’s imminent return from injury, and former pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman back in the win column. Quite simply, Welterweight is on absolute fire with a new champion and bevy of worthy contenders.

So … why are we still looking down at recently crowned Lightweight kingpin Ilia Topuria?

Don’t get me wrong, Topuria is an absolute stud, one of the greatest talents I’ve seen inside the Octagon. He might have the best boxing in UFC history, a kind of power and fluidity that is almost unprecedented. His grappling has never looked less than extremely slick. The problem, however, is that his Lightweight move was totally option — Topuria is not too big for Featherweight. He already fought up a weight class to win his second title at 155-pounds, but now we want him to jump another 15 pounds to 170?

The guy is 5’7”.

Makhachev ain’t going back to Lightweight neither. The Russian clearly wants no part of that weight cut ever again and said as much in his post-fight interview. Speaking of Lightweight, there are worthy contenders there as well like Arman Tsarukyan, Paddy Pimblett, or Justin Gaethje. Topuria has interesting threats to his title, even if it’s not quite the explosion of young talent that Welterweight is enjoying.

The time to book Ilia vs. Islam was before Makhachev abdicated his Lightweight throne. As it stands, we would be stalling out two excellent divisions for a fight that doesn’t make much sense anymore. Bad blood and triple champion potential obviously make for great headlines, but is that worth log-jamming two hot divisions?

Here’s my alternative suggestion: delay. Make the champions fight their divisional contenders. If Topuria smokes Tsarukyan and Pimblett while Makhachev mauls Morales and Shavkat, the hype will only grow further as the matchup regains its undeniable status. Super fights are best done between undeniable and dominant champions, and in their new weight classes, neither Topuria nor Makhachev have attained that status.

Give them the opportunity, then make the fight if they’re worthy.

For complete UFC 322 results and play-by-play click here.