Ilia Topuria has vacated his featherweight title after defending it only once. Aspiring to attain double champ status, the Spaniard will likely face the lightweight champion Islam Makhachev next. Now, with such an announcement coming from Dana White, fight fans are excited to the core. However, despite all the noise, former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen has expressed his doubts about the entire superfight gimmick.
According to Sonnen, the time is not yet right for Ilia Topuria to gain weight and challenge Makhachev. One of the major risk factors involved with the scenario is that if the Dagestani prevails, ‘El Matador’ can lose it all in one day.
“Should [Topuria] walk into a No.1 contender’s spot or should he walk into a world title fight?… I want to build the idea of Ilia Topuria… And I don’t want him to have the risk of getting beat on day one. I like the idea of Topuria the champion and I don’t know if I’m convinced that he can deal with [Makhachev] right now,” Sonnen stated via the ‘Good Guy Bad Guy’ podcast.
Listening to Sonnen’s analysis, fellow podcaster Daniel Cormier too, nodded in appreciation. However, Topuria might not be getting Makhachev right away this year. This is because the Dagestani will not fight during Ramadan. Thus, according to team Makhachev, Topuria must face a top lightweight first before getting the title shot.
Team Islam Makhachev Wants Ilia Topuria To Prove Himself
Islam Makhachev’s manager, Rizvan Magomedov, recently doubled down on his thoughts about the Topuria-Makhachev superfight. However, Magomedov stressed on the fact that ‘El Matador’ must face a top ranked lightweight first and prove himself worthy.
“Topuria vs Dustin/Charles contender fight, to prove he’s legit lightweight. So we don’t have to defeat another ‘small featherweight’ We need big fight that make sense for everyone. We already gave chances to featherweight champ that was reigning for a long time,” said Magomedov.
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Thus, the situation at the moment with Ilia Topuria is both interesting and complicated at the same time. It will surely be interesting to see how things pan out in the coming days.
Also Read: Ilia Topuria Announces Big Fight News Coming Next Week Amid Islam Makhachev Rumors
