Ilia Topuria may left the featherweight division, perhaps for good, but he still has all the bragging rights in the world. After defending his belt against Max Holloway, Ilia Topuria called it a day in the featherweight division, relinquishing his 145-pound gold to move up to lightweight. In response, Dana White booked a fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes to crown a new featherweight champion. However, as UFC 314 approaches, ‘El Matador’ has come forward with a cheeky statement about the outcome of the fight.

In his very recent interview with the media, we could witness the host asking the fighter his predictions for the upcoming featherweight title fight, to which Ilia Topuria took a cheeky dig at both Volkanovski as well as Diego Lopes, “I don’t know. Predicting the future of our children is complicated.” said ‘El Matador’ with a smile on his face.

He further added, “I don’t know. I wish them both the best of luck, but come on. Everyone knows who’s in charge in that division. I just left them a toy to have fun with because it’s important to them. I don’t need a belt.” Knocking out both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway back-to-back will undoubtedly give you a confidence boost to call out anyone. And, it seems that ‘El Matador’ is convinced he already owns the featherweight division after knocking out two of the all-time greats.

When Ilia Topuria was the champion, he asserted that he would give Volkanovski a rematch to reclaim his title. While he may have granted Alexander Volkanovski another fight, it was not against himself. However, can we assume that ‘El Matador’ is keeping his options open? By keeping his rivalry with Volkanovski alive, he might be preserving a pathway back to the featherweight division if his lightweight run doesn’t go as planned.

Talking about the lightweight division, Ilia Topuria has called out for UFC CEO Dana White to book his fight against Islam Makhachev and this might have caught the attention of welterweight champ, Belal Muhammad.

Belal Muhammad calls outa Ilia Topuria for Islam Makhachev fight

Ilia Topuria has emphasized that he would only fight Islam Makhachev for his initial lightweight fight. This has dragged controversies, considering that ‘El Matador’ relinquished his title immediately after defending it only once. The question that’s been going on in everyone’s head is, ‘Does Topuria deserve the lightweight title fight?’ Well, Islam Makhachev’s gym mate and welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, has come forward to blatantly call out the former featherweight champ.

While having a conversation with, ‘BelieveYouMePodcast’, Muhammad criticized Topuria for vacating the featherweight belt so soon, “Yes, you had those two great wins over Volkanovski and Holloway, but there’s still other guys in the division before you say ‘I’ve done everything I had to do at 145, I want to move up,” said Belal Muhammad.

He further added, “At the end of the day, you defended the belt once and I don’t think it’s enough.” Alexander Volkanovski got his chance to face the lightweight champion four times and Muhammad believes that Ilia Topuria’s call for the lightweight fight after a single defense is just absurd. Well, what are your thoughts on ‘Remember The Name’s words? State your opinion in the comments below.