Everybody Is Saying the Same Thing About Ilia Topuria’s Physical Transformation as Fear Strikes Islam Makhachev’s Camp

Although it hasn’t been announced yet, the world of mixed martial arts has started to dream about a fight between Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria. Of course, this dream stems from the repeated callouts by the former featherweight champion. And the Dagestani champ finally agreeing to fight Topuria further boosted the speculations. And it’s not like Makhachev isn’t preparing to turn himself into an unstoppable force. He has recently joined Zabit Magomedsharipov to hone his skills. This raised some major concerns for ‘La Leyenda’. But now the Spaniard wasn’t lying idle. 

Confirming his stance against Makhachev for the International Fight Week, Topuria recently claimed, “I hope to make you all happy again on June 28th.” To be fair, he does have some pretty good ground game, which might rival Makhachev’s skills. But his true strength lies with his striking. Not too long ago, Alexander Volkanovski assured the world that Topuria had the potential to send the Dagestani to sleep. And to fire things up even higher, the Spaniard claimed, “I’m the one to take the belt from Islam. That’s the only reason he doesn’t want the fight.”

To prove himself, Topuria even gained quite a bit of muscle mass. The former featherweight champion’s bulk came into highlight when Home of Fight shared a picture of ‘La Leyenda’ on the X profile. The image showed Topuria flexing his developed muscles along with his team. In the caption, the text read, “ Ilia Topuria’s current shape ahead of his lightweight debut.”

Ilia Topuria’s current shape ahead of his lightweight debut

IG omarmontes pic.twitter.com/Jxr3ho0N53

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 6, 2025

And as soon as the post went live on the social media platform, the fighting community began to worry about Makhachev’s fate. Let’s take a look at what the fans had to say in the comments. 

Fans are in disbelief as they raise concerns for Islam Makhachev over Ilia Topuria’s jacked physique

Topuria has the potential to execute powerful punches. And they’ve already garnered 5 KO wins for the former featherweight champion. With enhanced muscle mass, this power is definitely going to witness a buff. No wonder fans are worried about the Dagestani. One of the fans commented, “It’s over he’s huge now and new.” Another fan added, “Islam better not take the fight if he doesn’t want to go to sleep.” One more fan claimed, “Islam’s reign at LW is coming to an end.”

However, many fans weren’t convinced that Topuria was now a lightweight fighter. But first, let’s go back in time and see why ‘La Leyenda’ moved to LW division. He preciously claimed that he walked around at 180 pounds. This made cutting weight far too difficult. But if he got to the lightweight realm, this problem would be eliminated. Now, coming back to the fans’ perspective about his new look, one fan believed, “Yeah he’s not 180/190 or whatever he claims lol.” Another fan added, “absolutely no way he’s 180 pounds off season.” Meanwhile, one fan pointed out, “lookin like a middleweight here.”

Well, while most of the fans were worrying about Makhachev or dismissing Topuria as a 180-pounder, some fans attacked the caption. The caption claimed that Topuria was getting ready for his lightweight debut. But the Spaniard had already fought once at 155 pounds and won. The bout against Jai Herbert in 2022 ended in Topuria’s favor with a second-round KO. One comment read, “How is this his debut gif he fight jai?” Another fan commented, “He already fought at Lightweight. This is not his debut! He fought Jai Herbert at Lightweight.”

What are your thoughts on Topuria’s new look? Do you think he has developed the power to stop Makhachev? Let us know what you think in the comments down below. 

The post Everybody Is Saying the Same Thing About Ilia Topuria’s Physical Transformation as Fear Strikes Islam Makhachev’s Camp appeared first on EssentiallySports.