At UFC 317, Ilia Topuria became one of the few fighters to win titles in two weight classes.
Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira in devastating fashion to claim the vacant lightweight title after committing to the division by vacating his featherweight belt.
His incredible run over the past few years has led to comparisons between Topuria’s streak and Conor McGregor’s accomplishments, where he held two belts simultaneously for the first time in UFC history.
While ‘El Matador’ has already moved on to his next target with Topuria looking to settle his feud with Paddy Pimblett, a UFC legend believes that the promotion made a mistake during his ascent which would’ve allowed him to do something that hasn’t been done before.
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Chael Sonnen says the UFC made a mistake in not allowing Ilia Topuria to win the BMF title at UFC 308
In a recent episode of ESPN MMA’s ‘Good Guy / Bad Guy’, Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen reflected on UFC 317 where Ilia Topuria became the lightweight champion.
‘El Matador’ becoming a two-time champ while remaining undefeated is incredibly impressive but Sonnen believes that the UFC made an error during his rise.
At UFC 308, Topuria defended his featherweight title against Max Holloway, stopping ‘Blessed’ in the third round to retain the belt.
Holloway entered the fight as the BMF champion, having produced one of the biggest wins of his career when he knocked out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
Sonnen believes that Topuria should have been eligible to win the BMF belt, claiming it would change the conversation around him if he held three belts right now.
“There was a mistake made and the mistake was made to put Ilia in there with the reigning BMF champion and not to put up the belt. That son of a b—- should have three belts right now and we’re having a totally different talk right now if he does. The marketing and the posters are totally different if we had that, but we gotta follow it to a tee. The belt’s either up or it’s not.
“The way the story gets told about Max, everybody likes Max and respects Max and we know how great he was, there’s more to it. He was the reigning BMF champion. Ilia Topuria should have two over his shoulder and one around his waist and I really do think that that was an error.”
Ilia Topuria has secured a different accolade following UFC 317
While he wasn’t able to win a third title this past weekend, Ilia Topuria’s knockout win has seen him secure a different accolade instead.
The undefeated star now sits at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings following UFC 317 on January 28.
‘El Matador’ has unseated former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev from the top spot, though that could change if Makhachev is able to win the welterweight title following his decision to move up.
Considering his recent run of performances, it’s hard to argue that Topuria isn’t deserving of the top spot.