With Ilia Topuria announcing a move up to lightweight, he has champion Islam Makhachev in his sights. Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker refused to predict who would be better in a lightweight clash between them. However, had the two superstars clashed in a featherweight bout, the Australian MMA star picked Topuria to win.
Speaking on an episode of the MMArcade Podcast, Whittaker was full of praise for Makhachev’s lightweight abilities because of his boxing and kickboxing skills.
“Hypothetically, if Makhachev went down to fight Topuria, Topuria beats him I think. I can’t do it the other way around. Because at lightweight Islam is so strong and powerful. His boxing and kickboxing are really top-notch. It’s come a long way since we first saw him land.”
Makhachev is a force to be reckoned with at lightweight and is currently on a 14-fight win streak, with his last four wins having come from title fights, three of which have been dominant title defenses against former champions.
And in these fights, his skills only seem to have been compounded. He submitted Oliveira to win the title at UFC 280 in 2022, a fight he thoroughly dominated.
Although Islam’s first title defense against Alexander Volkanovski would be a bit of a struggle with people questioning if he could ever be as dominant as his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev would bounce back in the rematch and KO Volk with a head kick.
If Islam wins his next fight against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311, this would be his fourth successful title defense, making him one of the most well-rounded fighters in the promotion.
But Whittaker could be accurate in his claim that Topuria would beat Islam in featherweight. He is fast and precise.
In the span of a year, he has outboxed former featherweight champions and legends of the division like Volkanovski and Max Holloway. While he methodically dismantled Volk to win the title, his first defense against Holloway, saw him do the impossible.
The real question is – How interested is Islam in taking on Topuria?
Islam dismissive about Topuria clash but confident he would beat him
Around two weeks ago, Islam spoke in a press conference about not being interested in a bout with Topuria. It’s because he doesn’t see the benefit in defeating him as he would be looked at as someone who beat a MMA fighter from another class and then not win a belt again.
“In terms of my fighting career, I’m not interested in fighting Topuria at all. He’s in a different weight class. I’ll beat him, and what will that do for me? I won’t win another belt. Everyone will once again say that I beat a featherweight. That’s it. But if people really want to see him lose, then we can do it.”
Islam knows that Topuria is mentioning him a lot these days and he reacted to that as well.
“He probably wants to tell me something. I don’t understand what he wants to tell me. Let’s step outside and talk. He wants to fight? We’ll fight if we need to.”
Nothing has officially declared about a bout, but there are many like Whittaker who feel that the only fighter who can challenge Islam in lightweight is Topuria. Surely, that would be a spectacle for UFC fans to watch.