Outside Source
Ilia Topuria will look to defend his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House. While Makhachev believes Gaethje still has a chance, he thinks “The Highlight” is a little past his prime. Makhachev believes Topuria will rule atop the lightweight division in the near future.
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“Topuria is the new generation,” Makhachev told UFC on TNT Sports. “I still believe Gaethje can do something. But he’s a little bit old right now. He’s a good fighter, legend. He showed us many very good fights. But now I think it’s Topuria’s time for lightweight.”
What Might Have Been
A matchup between Topuria (17-0) and Makhachev (28-1) is arguably the most anticipated matchup in recent history. Topuria was the featherweight champion when he started calling out Makhachev, who was the lightweight champion then. However, Makhachev didn’t want to give Topuria a title shot until “El Matador” had proven himself at lightweight. Makhachev eventually moved up to welterweight and dethroned Jack Della Maddalena to win the title.
Meanwhile, Topuria moved up and knocked out Charles Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight title. Rumors suggest that a matchup between the two was originally being planned for the main event of the UFC White House card on June 14. However, Dana White has refuted those rumors. While there was some trash talk initially exchanged, Topuria recently said that he doesn’t think Makhachev is ducking him. Topuria believes the UFC doesn’t want to make the matchup.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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