Outside Source
Ilia was in Aleksandre’s (7-1) corner for his sophomore UFC appearance against Bekzat Almakhan (12-3) at UFC Qatar on Saturday. Aleksandre earned a unanimous decision win over the Kazakh prospect.
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The Perfect Scenario
Aleksandre subsequently weighed in on Ilia’s next likely fight. Aleksandre admits that the best case scenario would be for his brother to compete for his third UFC title. However, El Conquistador” believes Ilia needs to defend his lightweight strap before thinking about another title.
“The perfect scenario would be to fight for the title but I think he has to defend his title in the lightweight division,” Aleksandre said in a post-fight scrum.
Topuria (17-0) won the featherweight title against Alexander Volkanovski last year and defended it by handing Max Holloway his lone career knockout. While “El Matador” was eyeing a lightweight title bid against Islam Makhachev, Makhachev vacated the title to move up to welterweight. Topuria won the vacant title by knocking out former champion Charles Oliveira earlier this year. Meanwhile, Makhachev dethroned Jack Della Maddalena to win the welterweight title at UFC 322 last weekend. Since Makhachev doesn’t want to drop back to 155 pounds, Topuria has been teasing a move up to welterweight for a third title bid.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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