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After Makhachev vacated his lightweight title, Topuria won the belt by knocking out former champ Charles Oliveira this past June. While No.1 contender Arman Tsarukyan was sitting cageside, Topuria chose to call out Paddy Pimblett. Tsarukyan has since been rallying for a title fight against Topuria, who insists that “Ahalkalakets” must pass another test for a title shot. Topuria even threatened to vacate his belt if the UFC forces him to fight Tsarukyan before the Russian goes through another fight. Makhachev believes it’s evident that Topuria is ducking Tsarukyan, whom he considers the biggest threat to “El Matador.”
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“It’s no secret that [Ilia’s] been ducking [Arman]. I’ve already seen some comments on the internet where he says, ‘I’d rather retire than fight Arman.’ So I think for now, Arman has been on a good streak and he must be the toughest test for the champion,” Makhachev told tower_gsk.
Tsarukyan was originally scheduled to challenge Islam Makhachev for the title this past January. However, Tsarukyan pulled out a day before the fight due to an injury, much to the chagrin of UFC CEO Dana White. Makhachev went on to defend his belt via submission against Renato Carneiro, who took the fight on a day’s notice. Meanwhile, White publicly announced that Tsarukyan wouldn’t get the next lightweight title shot.
Topuria, Makhachev Just Missed Crossing Paths
Topuria was originally chasing a lightweight title shot against Islam Makhachev, who was unwilling to fight him until he had proven himself at 155 pounds. Makhachev’s long-planned welterweight move was only halted by his friend Belal Muhammad’s title reign, which ended at UFC 315, where he was upset by Jack Della Maddalena this past May.
After Makhachev announced his move to welterweight, the bid for the vacant title went to Topuria and Oliveira, whom Tsarukyan beat in his last outing. Topuria won his featherweight title against Alexander Volkanovski and defended it only once against Max Holloway before moving up. Meanwhile, Makhachev defended his lightweight title four times, the most in the division’s history, before moving up. While Topuria has also accused Makhachev of ducking him, he also admitted that the weight cut to lightweight must have been too much for Makhachev to continue.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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