In combat sports, greatness isn’t claimed—it’s proven inside the cage, often in just twenty-five minutes. That’s why Ilia Topuria, fresh off his move from featherweight, has his sights set on lightweight champion and pound-for-pound king, Islam Makhachev. But there’s one problem—Makhachev isn’t sold on the matchup. A firm believer in merit, the Dagestani champion insists that Topuria must first “prove himself” by taking down at least one top contender at 155 pounds before earning a shot at the throne.
Topuria’s rise has been meteoric. After knocking out two of the greatest featherweights in history, his popularity is surging to new levels. For Makhachev, a win over the former featherweight champ wouldn’t just reinforce his dominance. It could be a career-defining victory that launches him into an entirely new tier of superstardom. However, according to Belal Muhammad, a win over Topuria for Makhachev will do no good to his legacy. Rather, it will just be one of those occasions where the lightweight champion just gives an opportunity to yet another featherweight fighter.
Muhammad feels Topuria stands to gain by challenging the champion. But a victory in Makhachev’s favor does no good to his legacy. Red Corner MMA took to their Instagram account to share a glimpse of ‘Remember the Name’ had to say. The champion said, “That’s the part right? It puts him in like a bad spot because like everybody’s calling for Ilia then you look at the comments and all of them are like well he’s only fought featherweights. And then he goes out there and he beats Ilia. And then he’s gonna go out there and he’s like oh well we told you that Ilia was too small.”
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Makhachev, for a long time, has his eyes set on become a dual champion after defending his title four times in the division. His greatness is what bothers the fans, and they now want to see him lose, feels Muhammad. He further added, “And Ilia could always go back down and say well yeah it wasn’t good enough for me. But for Islam for him to keep building his legacy they just wanna see them lose right? They wanna see the team lose.”
The fight is yet to be announced by the UFC and the fans are eagerly waiting to see what happens next. If and ever the fight ever happens, who do you think holds the upper hand in the clash? Dustin Poirier has come up with a detailed analysis of both fighters.
Dustin Poirier finds it tough to pick a winner between Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria doesn’t acknowledge the word ‘impossible.’ Now, the former featherweight king isn’t just talking about defeating Islam Makhachev—he’s talking about either knocking out or submitting the reigning lightweight champion. While some in the fight community remain doubtful of Ilia Topuria’s knack for predicting his own victories, others—like Dustin Poirier—are fully backing ‘El Matador.’ Poirier recently decided to share his honest opinion on this matter while speaking to Robert Lee Griffin III on the Outta Pocket Podcast.
The former interim champion is pretty impressed with Topuria and said, “He is everything he said he was and I still believe that.” However, he knows that the 28-year-old has a tough ask ahead of him in Makhachev but reminded everyone about the skillset he has. He said, “It’s gonna be a tough one. I have never seen Ilia in person, first of all. I know they say he is big and walks at 190 pounds all that stuff but I’ve been in there with Islam and that’s a big dude. I just think that size difference would be huge but the guy’s got fast hands and great technique, you know—he can knock anybody out.”
This is one of those fascinating matchups where predicting a winner feels nearly impossible, given the sheer skill sets and technical brilliance of both fighters. Who do you think comes out on top between the two? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
The post UFC Champ Claims Islam Makhachev is in a ‘Bad Spot’ as Ilia Topuria Shakes Up 2 Divisions After LW Move appeared first on EssentiallySports.
