After Ilia Topuria’s stunning knockout of future UFC hall-of-famer Max Holloway at UFC 308, Topuria has cemented his name one of the most dangerous fighters on the roster. Topuria is the first fighter to ever finish Holloway and has one of the most impressive back-to-back wins in UFC history, after winning the featherweight belt against Alexander Volkanovski back in February.
The question for Ilia now is who he should fight next. Many names at featherweight will be looking to be the first to defeat El Matador, with a rematch with Volkanovski being touted by many, and a potential matchup with the hard hitting and exciting Diego Lopes also being discussed. Whilst both matchups are intriguing, perhaps the biggest fight the UFC can make is against Lightweight king, Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev has been unstoppable at Lightweight and is currently on a 14-fight win streak. Since defeating Charles Oliveira via second round submission back in October 2022, Makhachev has won his three title defences, defeating the then pound-for-pound number one Volkanovski in back-to-back fights, before finishing Dustin Poirier in the fifth round via D’Arce choke back in June.
Makhachev and Topuria do have a common opponent in Alexander Volkanovski. Whilst Volkanovski and Makhachev’s fight in February 2023 was a razor-close decision, Topuria was able to KO the Australian inside two rounds. Makhachev did make light work of Volkanovski in their rematch later that year however, with the caveat of Volkanovski taking the fight on ten days’ notice.
At lightweight, there are a serious lack of contenders in the division, with four of the top five in the division behind Makhachev coming off defeats. Arman Tsarukyan who is ranked number one is the obvious next opponent for Makhachev. The two fought each other back in 2019 in a very competitive fight so this rematch is an intriguing one.
Whilst defeating Islam Makhachev seems a tall order for anyone, Ilia Topuria is confident about his chances. Speaking UFC 308 media day, he said “If they call me and they want me to move up to the lightweight division, I will be OK with that moving up and be the first one to submit Islam.”
A fight between Topuria and Makhachev would be very intriguing. Whilst Topuria has become known for his boxing technique and devastating knockout power, he was originally a grappler and has BJJ black belt. Makhachev would come into this matchup as the favourite and the Dagestan-born fighter has no obvious weakness in his game.
Both fighters have surged in popularity recently and is perhaps the biggest fight that can be made in the UFC. This fight is not necessarily next for either man, but should Makhachev defeat Tsarukyan and Topuria win his next fight at featherweight, the UFC have a huge matchup in their hands.
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