Former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will shoot for a second UFC title soon, with his gaze also drifting to a history-making third.
Topuria is set to fight Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317 on June 28, with the pair competing for the soon-to-be vacant lightweight crown.
Islam Makhachev will relinquish the throne to pursue two-division glory of his own up at 170 pounds, where he’ll serve as the first challenger to newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena.
Following confirmation of the Dagestani’s move, Topuria branded Makhachev a “coward” and accused him of running from their matchup.
But the Georgian-Spaniard could end up chasing the lightweight king all the way up to welterweight, given his hopes to make history as the UFC’s first three-division titleholder.
Chael Sonnen says Ilia Topuria may have blown triple-champ plan by not jumping to welterweight immediately
According to UFC legend Chael Sonnen, though, Topuria’s career planning may already have negatively affected his chances of reaching the top in a trio of weight classes.
While jumping up by two divisions is relatively unheard of, ‘The Bad Guy’ suggested during a YouTube video that Topuria’s best hope of becoming a triple-champ would have been to move straight to welterweight, not lightweight.
“I haven’t seen anything out of Ilia yet that I could possibly criticize,” Sonnen said. “But covering the spread of ‘45, ‘55, and ‘70 – if that truly is the endgame – the strategy would be to go from ‘45 to ‘70.
“The only way you’re gonna get to ‘70 is to go from ‘45 to ‘70. Why do I say it’s the only way? Well, ‘cause it’s the only thing that’s ever been done.
“The best way to do anything in life is to find somebody who’s already done it and copy them. Conor McGregor, your ‘45-pound champion of the world, decided he was going to go into a main event at 170 opposite Nate Diaz…refused to go to ‘55.
“If you’re good enough and you can command it…if Ilia Topuria is truly chasing down Islam, if that is the great story…go chase him down,” Sonnen added. “[Not doing that], from a calculated standpoint, was an error.”
Ilia Topuria has made another major change alongside UFC weight switch
Interestingly, a divisional move isn’t the only major change ‘El Matador’ has made in his career.
Topuria has split with his longtime coaches, the Climent brothers, at Climent Club in Alicante, Spain.
Coach Jorge Climent reacted to the UFC star’s decision while speaking on Submission Radio, insisting that they remain on good terms with Topuria and wish him well.
“No, we don’t work together anymore. I feel always this is not good for sentimental thing, you know, but [this] is the life. We go with him [on] this journey and now he grow and he want to fly away, you know.
“We’re very proud to go all the way with him. We are very proud for everything he’s done and, of course, we are a little sad. But I want everything in his life [to] continue going well.”
Many are curious to see how a change of personnel will affect Topuria moving forward, especially as he prepares to handle another key adjustment in the form of his move up to 155 pounds.