The curious case of Ilia Topuria is becoming even more tense day by day. With Topuria looking for a lightweight championship bout, there has been significant tension around it. As a matter of fact, Islam Makhachev’s team seemingly does not want to give Topuria a chance. In a recent interview, Henry Cejudo spilled the beans, saying Khabib Nurmagomedov does not feel Topuria is worthy of fighting for the belt.
However, this narrative does not seem to sit well with MMA analyst Brendan Schaub. In one of his recent podcast episodes, Schaub stated that denying Topuria the opportunity to fight will cost him millions. This is because Topuria is coming to 155 lbs, and doing nothing will cost him vital PPV points.
“If you think Topuria is leaving 145 [pounds] to go up to ’55 and lose out on PPV points, you’re dumb… There’s no way his team would allow him to do that. It’s the fight business… Guarantee you the UFC was like. ‘All right. If you go up, we guarantee you a title shot,’” Schaub stated.
Meanwhile, he also wanted to stress the fact that Makhachev does not get to call the shots in the UFC. Thus, it is just a matter of time before Topuria will fight for the lightweight title. On the contrary, fellow lightweight Michael Chandler has some significant doubts about Topuria’s lightweight move.
Michael Chandler Gives Honest Opinion On Ilia Topuria
Ever since Ilia Topuria made his decision to switch divisions, there has been no end of speculation. The latest addition to the same was Michael Chandler. He opined that Topuria was not big enough for the division.
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“[Topuria] versus Islam [Makhachev] would make the most business sense for the UFC, as far as the biggest fight. Is Ilia the most deserving of it? It’s hard to say, because it’s a guy coming up a weight class. He claims he’s 190 pounds outside of training camp, I don’t know if that’s necessarily true. I don’t think he’s as big as some of us lightweights. But the dude is absolutely skilled, and more importantly, he believes in himself,” Chandler said.
Thus, with clouds looming large, it remains to be seen how things pan out for Ilia Topuria in the near future.
Also Read: “I Bury Them”: Ilia Topuria’s New Nickname ‘The Legend’ Did Not Sit Well With Chael Sonnen
