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UFC Veteran Finds It ‘Insulting to Ask’ Islam Makhachev to Fight Ilia Topuria

Allan Binoy
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Islam Makhachev (L), Ilia Topuria (R)

Ilia Topuria might have vacated his featherweight title in hopes of a shot at Islam Makhachev for lightweight gold but that move might not have been one in his interest. With Makhachev demanding he take a #1 contender fight first and a chorus of analysts joining him in support, Topuria’s two-division champion aspirations are slipping out of his hands at an alarming rate.

However, in what appears to be an already complicated situation, UFC veteran Chael Sonnen has dubbed the news of Islam denying Topuria a title shot “fake news”. Subsequently, he also believes nobody should even be asking Islam to fight Topuria right off the bat anyway.

Speaking to co-host Daniel Cormier on the Good Guy/ Bad Guy Show, Sonnen quickly dismissed the notion that Makhachev would ever back down from a fight.

It’s a little bit insulting to be the one to ask Islam if you would fight a 145-pounder, considering that this would make the 3rd 145-pounder that Islam would be forced to face.”, he said, confidently. Sonnen also explained that the only plan Islam has ever informed anyone of was his wanting to move weight classes at some point.

And since he hasn’t been able to change weights, Sonnen claims there is a lot of hypocrisy in asking him to entertain another fighter who has been a

So, if he himself is not allowed to do the one thing they are asking him to do three times over… I am light on that. I don’t think it will happen.”, the former middleweight contender reasoned.

It should be noted that Islam’s first two title defenses were at UFC 284 and UFC 294 in 2023 and they were both against former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanosvki, who was venturing up the weight class to secure a double champ status.

Unfortunately for him, both these attempts were unsuccessful and Islam was branded a weight bully by a section of the audience. Needless to say, the lightweight champ had then asserted that he was happy to fight whoever the UFC wanted but he would rather not take on another 145-pounder.

Cormier backs Islam for not wanting to fight another featherweight

According to ‘DC’, there is no benefit for Islam to fight Topuria at the moment. The Spaniard is untested at lightweight. Despite his impressive knockouts of Max Holloway and Volkanovski before him, the fact remains- Topuria has only defended his featherweight title once.

Meanwhile, Islam is sitting on four title defenses at 155 lbs. And naturally, he only wants to fight established 155ers at this point. Cormier believes taking on another featherweight at this stage would only harm his legacy.

“I don’t know that Islam should fight him first. For Makhachev, he goes and beats Ilia Topuria, right? People will say, he beat Volk, he beat Topuria, Charles Oliveira, Renato Moicano. Seems pretty good. That’s 5 title fight wins”, he said. 

However, looking at the other side of the argument, DC adds that it doesn’t matter what happens, the fact that Topuria was champion in a lower weight class will be used to point and tarnish Islam’s greatness.

“Anytime you have a dominant champ, you look for reasons to discredit them.”, Cormier explained.

What do you think? Should Islam fight Topuria and end this debate once and for all? Or should Ilia put on the big boy pants, get a #1 contender fight, and not skip the line?

Post Edited By:Smrutisnat Jena

About the author

Allan Binoy

Allan Binoy

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Allan Binoy is a MMA journalist at The SportsRush. Taken to the sport in 2015, thanks to a certain Conor McGregor, Allan has himself dabbled in the martial arts. And having graduated from Loyola College, Chennai, with a degree in English Literature, he has learnt to use his love for language to have a voice in the MMA community. Allan has been writing about the gladiatorial stories for more than three years now and has pursued excellence at a number of reputable media organizations, covering every UFC PPV in the last couple of years. In addition to this, the southpaw is also a semi-professional soccer player for Diego Juniors FC in Pune, playing in the Pune Super Division League.

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