A UFC middleweight has questioned Ilia Topuria’s path to two-division glory. Topuria (17-0), who is now a two-division UFC champion and the current lightweight champion, made his promotional debut in 2020 on short notice against Youssef Zalal and cruised to a unanimous decision victory.
After that, to prove that he is true championship material, “El Matador” racked up five more wins back-to-back. He defeated opponents like Bryce Mitchell, Josh Emmett, and Jai Herbert, among others.
In 2024, Topuria challenged Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 for the featherweight championship and knocked out “The Great” in Round 2 of the title bout to become the new 145-pound champion.
Later in 2024, Topuria defended his title against Max Holloway at UFC 308 and scored a third-round TKO win to register his first successful title defense.
After that, the Georgian-Spaniard vacated his throne, moved up to 155 pounds, and fought Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight championship at UFC 317. Once more, “El Matador” emerged victorious, knocking out the Brazilian cold in Round 1, just as he had predicted.
Up next, Ilia Topuria is expected to defend his throne against interim champion Justin Gaethje on June 14.
UFC middleweight Shara Magomedov recently opined that Ilia Topuria fought for the belt after facing four or five questionable opponents.
Bullet” told Metammaplus that Topuria fought a “worn out” Charles Oliveira, “not the same as before” Max Holloway, and an out-of-prime Alexander Volkanovski:
“He’s [Ilia Topuria] a good fighter on his own, but if you look at how he got to the belt, there were four or five fights against questionable opponents. And when he fought really serious fighters, they were already worn out. Charles Oliveira was worn out, I think. Max Holloway was a tough opponent, but he’s not the same as before. He’s taken a lot of damage in his career and kind of slowed down. Alexander Volkanovski was also not at the same level he used to be.”
Check out Shara Magomedov’s comments about Ilia Topuria below:
Islam Makhachev teases superfight with Ilia Topuria
Earlier today, newly minted UFC welterweight champ Islam Makhachev, who is yet to make the first defense of his 170-pound throne, teased a superfight with Ilia Topuria. Makhachev told Telegraf Sport:
“I like this idea, if the UFC wants… I know a lot of MMA fans want this fight, and I’m ready.”
Check out Islam Makhachev’s comments below:
Topuria also wants to fight Makhachev and would not mind vacating his 155-pound championship to move up and lock horns with the P4P king for a third UFC belt.