Ilia Topuria Lacks Star Power in the U.S. to Make Islam Makhachev Fight a PPV Success: Chael Sonnen

Ilia Topuria might one day sell out Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, but it’s not going to be tonight. Even if he could, Chael Sonnen doesn’t believe the former featherweight champion could sell out Madison Square Garden in New York City or pull more Americans into seats at arenas across the UFC’s home country.

If Topuria wants to main even a PPV with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, he will have to be able to convince Dana White and the UFC brass of a sold-out arena. Could this be the reason for White’s hesitancy about granting him the tile fight? Is this why almost every UFC analyst, still with the promotion, believes he should fight a top contender fight at lightweight first?

A top contender fight against former champion Charles Oliveira, or Justin Gaethje for that matter, on US soil would be perfect for the UFC to test the waters before signing off on a potentially record-breaking gate on the back of faith. Sonnen certainly seems to believe so.

“He is not a huge star here (United States). He’s on the cusp of it, but he’s not, not in America.”, the former middleweight contender said.

Reiterating the sentiment, but only louder for people in the back, he added, “You can’t count on selling out an arena with Ilia vs. Islam. For any of you that think that’s a mega massive fight, you are wrong.”

It’s not that Sonnen doesn’t see Topuria’s talent or potential. In fact, he admitted it’s a huge fight to make, even comparable to Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall. However, he believes the stardom Topuria has gained by knocking out Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovskin in 2024 is limited to countries across the pond in Europe.

The American market could still see him as just a Conor McGregor wannabe with the tattoos and the swagger but without the nice accent. But Sonnen’s opinion of Topuria might just be extremely flawed as well.

At least it’s not going to be a reason behind not granting him a title fight right off the bat. Islam’s last proposed opponent, Arman Tsarukyan, wasn’t a big name, and neither was the #13 ranked Renato Moicano, who he eventually fought at UFC 311 earlier this year.

Besides, when Conor became a star, he brought Ireland with him, and seeing as Topuria’s murals have graced the streets of the country since his last win, it won’t be a presumptuous to claim people will travel to see him fight.

And it just seems that, despite the negativity, Topuria already knows that.

Topuria teases a big announcement

Topuria’s move, coupled with Gaethje’s UFC 313 win and subsequent call for a title shot, has made things incredibly interesting in the 155 lb division.

Often advertised as one of the toughest divisions to move around in, the lightweight division has never had a queue this long waiting for their turn at the gold rush. But the champion Islam and his camp aren’t willing to just offer handouts.

While they claim to prefer seeing Topuria in action before taking him on, Islam’s coach, Javier Mendez, has also asserted that it would take the champion two months to prepare for anyone.

There have since been no noise from the champion’s camp. Interestingly, in the meantime, ‘El Matador’ has made a cryptic statement on his Twitter account.

“When we announce it, you won’t believe it. Get ready.”, he said. 

This could only mean one thing, according to fans: a title fight against Islam Makhachev as he has been teasing. Unless, of course, Mr. White is setting him up with a Conor McGregor comeback.