Nathaniel Wood believes Ilia Topuria has done enough to cement a legacy at featherweight.
The 145lb champion recently announced his decision to vacate and move up to the lightweight division.
‘El Matador’ knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the belt at UFC 298 in February 2024.
The 28-year-old defended the title just once when he made history by stopping Max Holloway with strikes at UFC 308 last October – but is beating two legends back-to-back enough to make Ilia Topuria the greatest featherweight of all time?
Nathaniel Wood considers Ilia Topuria’s GOAT credentials
Nathaniel Wood is currently trying to work his way through the featherweight rankings.
‘The Prospect’, who is 4-1 since moving up from bantamweight in July 2022, will square off against Morgan Charrière in the first main card bout at UFC London on Saturday night.
Wood believes Topuria has done more than enough to put himself in the 145lb GOAT conversation.
Volkanovski, Holloway, Jose Aldo, and Conor McGregor are the four names usually mentioned when fans talk about the best featherweights ever, but now a fifth fighter has entered the mix after taking out two of them in devastating fashion.
“I do think that he’s done enough on paper,” Wood said when asked if Topuria can be considered a featherweight great during an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow.
“Knocking out Volkanovski [and] knocking out Volkanovki. Now, the only counter to that is I would say Volkanovski is on his way out and wasn’t in his prime. I would say Holloway isn’t in his prime.
“However, Ilia Topuria smashed everybody going up the rankings. So, when he walked in with Bryce Mitchell, he absolutely smoked him. Obviously, he did get caught by Jai Herbert, but it’s MMA and anyone can get caught.
“I think the resume speaks for itself. I think him being undefeated as well does a lot.
“Yeah, I think he’s done enough.”
Nathaniel Wood backs Ilia Topuria’s lightweight move
Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra recently called Topuria’s weight change ‘premature’.
It’s a common opinion held by a section of fans who wanted to see him achieve more as the champion.
However, Wood believes Topuria’s decision will improve his quality of life and help his finances too
“I think he should’ve done it, if I’m honest,” he added.
“I look at him and he is obviously a mega superstar. You know, he’s got 6 million followers or something and he’s got Real Madrid promoting him. Obviously, he’s a massive name in Spain and he’s got a lot of money from what I’ve seen.
“So, why not move up? Be more comfortable and actually enjoy your life without having to deplete yourself. I imagine they will probably make the title fight with him and Islam [Makhachev] pretty quick.
“I remember seeing something about him not wanting to fight much longer than 30-ish years old. If that’s the case, move up, man, and get these big fights. I imagine that they are gonna do it. It’s gonna be a massive pay-per-view card, and good luck to him.”