UFC Champion Ilia Topuria still has some doubters.
Spain’s Topuria became the new lightweight champion in June with a ferocious first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317, just as he predicted.
16-0 as a pro, the heavy-handed ‘Matador’ is riding one of the best streaks in history, stopping the likes of featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, BMF champion Max Holloway, and beloved former champ Oliveira.
While Topuria could be on his way to the UFC Hall of Fame and all-time greatness, a former champion understands the criticism behind his recent success.
- READ MORE: Ilia Topuria is accused of outdoing Jon Jones with the ‘most blatant ducking’ in UFC history
Frankie Edgar brutally honest on Ilia Topuria’s three-fight streak
Like Topuria, former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar fought across three weight classes in his career.
Topuria went from bantamweight to featherweight to lightweight while Edgar did the exact opposite, starting his career at lightweight and ending it at bantamweight.
The retired Edgar says Topuria is ‘not as good as’ former two-division champion Conor McGregor when it comes to trash talking, but he makes up for it with his skills.
“I think Ilia is everything everyone said he is,” Edgar said on the Champ and The Tramp Podcast.
“He’s obviously selling like they said. [Viewership] numbers are like Real Madrid, it’s crazy…
“He’s living up to the hype. He’s saying what he’s gonna do and going out there and doing it.
“But, there’s always the people that are gonna say some s— and hate on him, and they do have a point too,” Edgar admitted.
“He beat a 36-year-old Volkanovski,” the legendary lightweight continued.
“He beat Holloway coming off a way hard a– weight cut because he’s at 155, went back down to 145… And Volk coming off the head kick knockout, right?”
Volkanovski faced Topuria at UFC 298, four months after he was knocked out by Islam Makhachev in the opening round at UFC 294.
“And he just fought a 35, almost 36-year-old Oliveira. You know the stats, right, with the 35-year-old and [over curse],” Edgar mentioned.
The 35-and-over curse is based on a statistic in which most fighters age 35 or over lose in title fights, especially in the lighter weight classes.
Ilia Topuria under fire for not wanting to fight the no. 1 contender
Topuria has received more and more criticism in the weeks after winning the lightweight belt.
Topuria made headlines when he said he would rather vacate the title than fight #1 lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan, who many believe is deserving of a title opportunity. Tsarukyan is 9-1 since losing to Islam Makhachev in his UFC debut in 2019.
Paul Felder and Michael Bisping went off on the champion for refusing the #1 contender, with Bisping asking if Topuria was ‘pulling a Jon Jones’.
Tsarukyan has also accused Topuria of ‘ducking’ him, despite the fact he was ruled out of a title fight by UFC boss Dana White twice for his UFC 311 fight withdrawal in January.
Former champion Sean O’Malley understands why Topuria doesn’t want to fight Tsarukyan, claiming there are three bigger fights out there for the Spaniard.
UFC analyst Chael Sonnen recently claimed the UFC’s plan is to make Topuria vs. Tsarukyan for the belt.