Ilia Topuria has already begun laying the foundations for a possible move up to the lightweight division but the current lightweight King, Islam Makhachev, has advised he focuses on the threat of Movsar Evloev.
Ilia Topuria won the 145lb strap back at UFC 298 in February, knocking out Alexander Volkanosvki in the second round. Following the win, Islam Makhachev posted a congratulations message to the Georgian simply saying: “Congrats to the new champ Topuria, well done!”
However, since then, Topuria has set his sights on Makhachev, posting Makhachev’s only ever professional loss to his Instagram story, to which Makhachev commented: “Another short guy talking”.
Despite Topuria fishing for a possible fight with Makhachev, the Dagestani has recommended that he focus on clearing out his division before he talks about capturing another belt in a different weight division.
Ilia Topuria’s head coach, Jorge Climent, has also recently told MMA Junkie, that Islam Makhachev is his dream fight for Topuria as he believes Topuria can ‘bang him up’.
Islam Makhachev believes Movsar Evloev can beat Topuria because of his style
Although Topuria’s first title defense hasn’t been booked, rumors have surfaced that the UFC will hold an event in Spain for the first time, at UFC 307 which will take place later this year. Topuria, who is a Spanish resident, took his title to the Santiago Bernabeu recently, presenting it in front of thousands of fans.
Former featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, believes that he will be afforded an immediate rematch but Movsar Evloev is also waiting in the wings.
Talking to MMA Junkie, Islam Makhachev explained his confusion with Topuria ‘talking about everyone’, stating that he should focus on Movsar Evloev because he is a ‘bad stylistic matchup’ for the champion.
“I don’t know why he’s (Topuria) talking about everyone now after his fight I just posted something to say congratulations and he posted on Instagram about my fight when I lost.
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“He’s a good (fighter) he has good boxing but he has a hard fight in his division with Movsar (Evloev), this fight honestly, I believe Movsar can beat him because he is a bad stylistic fight for Topuria, but we will see. He talks about 155lbs, 170lbs, boxing, everything now but he has to focus on his division.” Makhachev added.
Movsar Evloev (18-0) recently picked up a win against Arnold Allen at UFC 297, but the decision was a close one that divided opinion. Not only that, but UFC President, Dana White, labeled it as one of the most boring fights of all time.
Despite Makhachev’s comments regarding Topuria clearing out his division, he wants to move up to welterweight to fight Leon Edwards for a second belt and had to unfortunately turn down the opportunity for UFC 300, due to Ramadan.
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