Topuria’s team says the Spanish fighter is so good he beats the best at their own game, and they want to prove it in a champ vs. champ bout against lightweight champ Makhachev.
Ilia Topuria may have said Alexander Volkanovski deserves a chance to win back his former title, but Team Matador disagrees.
Topuria was all respect in the cage following his UFC 308 win over Max Holloway. He showered “Blessed” with praise and then did the same when the promotion brought in Volkanovski to hype up a rematch. Topuria won the belt off “The Great” in February off an impressive second round knockout.
Following the event, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that Volkanovski wouldn’t be denied a title shot, but Topuria’s coach Jorge Climent is now looking up at a second belt held by Islam Makhachev rather than another featherweight defense.
“If you see his [first] fight with Volk, he suffered, you know?” Climent said in an interview with Submission Radio. “And I think Ilia looked much better against Volk than him. I think it’s a good fight for Ilia.”
“Islam I think is the fight,” he continued. “I think if he made this in 27 years — he fights Volk, he fights Holloway, now Islam. If he finish him? And not knock him down. Because the great thing [about Topuria is] he goes in the specialty of the his opponent. If he can finish Islam [by submission], wow. I think this is very, very epic.”
In an interview with Red Corner MMA, Topuria’s manager Lukasz Orzel echoed Climent’s desire to see Topuria tap Mak, and says he has the ground chops to do it.
“We have 20 black belts in our gym,” Orzel said. “And I can tell you that after just two years training in Climent Club, nobody took even one point off Ilia. Ilia is the Ronaldo of mixed martial arts. So the sky is limit for him.”
With Topuria declaring he’s in no rush to return to action quickly and there being talk of a Volkanovski interim fight with Diego Lopes in February, could “El Matador” really olé “The Great” and land a double champ fight against Makhachev?
What do you think of that matchup, Maniacs? Let us know in the comments below.