Outside Source
Lightweight champion Topuria has long been eyeing a clash against welterweight champion Makhachev. Topuria is currently expected to fight interim champion Justin Gaethje in a title unifier. While Evloev was impressed with Gaethje’s interim title win over Paddy Pimblett last month, he believes “The Highlight” is highly susceptible to a knockout against Topuria. However, Evloev believes Topuria stands no chance at welterweight against Makhachev, who is visibly bigger and on a different level.
Another Level
“It’s a stupid move,” Evloev told Submission Radio. “I think if Ilia does this, he will lose everything. But he has the power to fight at lightweight, and I don’t think it’s going to be a good fight for Gaethje if they fight. Gaethje’s fight [against Pimblett] was so good, but he missed a lot of punches. That’s not a good idea with Ilia. If [Ilia] touches [Justin], he’ll knock him out, but with Islam, it’s not going to happen. Islam is so huge and on another level.”
Topuria (17-0) was the featherweight champion when he started calling for a double champ bid against then-lightweight champion Makhachev. However, Makhachev (28-1) wasn’t willing to grant Topuria a title shot until “El Matador” had been tested at lightweight. Makhachev eventually vacated the title and moved up to welterweight, where he dominantly dethroned Jack Della Maddalena to win the title this past November. Meanwhile, Topuria defended the featherweight title just once before moving up to lightweight, where he knocked out Charles Oliveira to win the vacant title last year.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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