Khabib Makes Final Call on Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev’s Status, Reveals UFC Insider

The UFC’s lightweight division is going through a chaotic stage right now. Islam Makhachev might be sitting at the top of the throne but he has many takers from the top ten who want to snatch his position. Every top dog from the lightweight category wants to fight the champion, from Charles Oliveira to Justin Gaethje and now the new addition, Ilia Topuria. But what does Makhachev want?

Well, we know that he does not want to fight ‘La Leyenda’ for obvious reasons—he doesn’t want to face another featherweight moving up, and well, Team Khabib thinks Topuria should earn his shot by beating another top lightweight. The Dagestani champ said, “We’ll fight if we have to,“ on MatchTV. “In terms of my fighting career, I’m not interested in fighting Topuria at all. He’s in a different weight class. I’ll beat him, and what will that do for me?”

Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier spoke about how that fight may not happen on the Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast. Sonnen said, “It’s not going to be Ilia. We know that because King Khabib spoke on this. And even though Khabib was kind of sharing a thought, once it gets printed and it gets tied to what Khabib said, nothing in this world will break that. And I also feel they were gonna give it to Ilia, they would have done it anyway.”

MMA: UFC 311 Makhachev vs Moicano Jan 18, 2025 Inglewood, California, USA Islam Makhachev red gloves reacts after defeating Renato Moicano blue gloves in a lightweight title fight during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome. Inglewood Intuit Dome California USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xGaryxA.xVasquezx 20250118_jhp_sv5_0501

On ‘The Eagle’s’ statement about Makhachev vs Topuria, ‘DC’ added that when Khabib Nurmagomedov speaks, he always speaks the truth. Cormier said, “When Khabib speaks, right, I always wonder, like, how close it is to his heart? Because, you know, when it’s in his heart, nothing’s changing it. His mother said, ‘I don’t want you to do this without your dad.’ This dude had 30, 40 million dollars ahead of him. He didn’t do it. He respects his mom… He stuck with it. So, when these guys are going, ‘I don’t believe that this guy deserves it,’ I don’t know that it’s just in jest.”

In a recent interview with Adan Zubayraev, Khabib decided to spill the beans on what the lightweight champ thinks about fighting Topuria. For ‘The Eagle’ and Javier Mendez, Topuria should prove himself before getting a title shot. And right now, Arman Tsarukyan is the most fitting for a title fight according to ‘The Eagle’ and team. Let’s see what else Khabib mentioned regarding this.

Khabib Nurmagomedov reasoned why Makhachev won’t fight Topuria

The 29-0 legend told Adam Zubayraev, “I don’t know what kind of agreements Topuria and the UFC had, but from Islam’s side, he already gave two title shots to 145 champions. Both times, Islam won. Now a third time — OK, let’s imagine Topuria moves up and gets a title shot right away, Islam beats him, then Topuria fights again, and he loses again. So basically, nobody at 155.”

He reasoned that the fight wouldn’t add up to any legacy for Islam Makhachev if Ilia Topuria did not prove himself. The Spanish-Georgian gave Max Holloway his first KO loss, which is no easy accomplishment since Max Holloway is known for his granite chin. Before that, he KO’d Alexander Volkanovski, who gave Makhachev one of his toughest fights in the cage, in their first fight. So, on paper, ‘La Leyenda’ has a solid resume.

The lightweight division is a different ballgame, even though Topuria competed there once to great success. But will he get the opportunity he’s been rallying for since leaving the featherweight division? It remains to be seen.

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