The MMA realm has entered a bit of turmoil with UFC 317. The UFC has been announcing fights here and there, except for the fights for International Fight Week. Well, UFC 318 also has fights with Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway fighting a trilogy fight with the BMF belt on the line. Yes, it’s supposedly the final fight that ‘The Diamond’ will battle in before retiring. However, the world has been speculating on a fight between Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev. But even that has seen quite a few issues lately. And Chael Sonnen decided to pinpoint the reason for those problems. 

Taking to his YouTube talk show, ‘The American Gangster’ pointed out the difficulties that Dana White and Co. faced with the lightweight title fight between Makhachev and Topuria. But according to Sonnen, the Dagestani champion had a valid argument in his defense. He said, “You’re having a hard time getting Ilia in there with Islam. And Islam’s entire situation or his entire argument is, ‘I’ve done this not just once. I’ve done this twice. It’s everything to gain for you, and I have nothing.’” 

Well, Sonnen claimed that the reality of things should have been a bit different and reflected back on the time when Topuria clashed with Max Holloway at UFC 308. He not only defeated the BMF champion but also became the first fighter to ever knock ‘Blessed’ out. However, the headache with the fight was that Holloway’s belt wasn’t on the line.

‘The Bad Guy’ continued, “When the reality is this it should be the undisputed champion versus the BMF champion. That’s what this should be. Ilia Topuria should be, right now, the BMF champion. And it’s not the first time the mistake has been made to walk a BMF champion out there and not make him put his belt up.” 

Chael Sonnen also shared a clip of him criticizing Max Holloway’s stance of not putting his BMF belt on the line at UFC 308 on Instagram. And as soon as he shared the post, the fighting community swooped down to the comments section with their thoughts. Let’s see what they had to say. 

Max Holloway receives backlash as fans deem Ilia Topuria the true BMF champion

Ilia Topuria put his featherweight championship title on the line back when he fought Holloway. Had ‘Blessed’ done the same and put his BMF belt forward, we could’ve witnessed the war between ‘La Leyenda’ and Islam Makhachev much sooner. And the fight fans had no choice but to agree with Sonnen. They believed that Topuria should have been the true BMF champion.

A fan weighed in on this and wrote, “I agree with my boy Chael P on this! Max should’ve lost the title and the BMF belt in that Topuria loss! Not that I care about the BMF belt, but Chael is spot on here!” Another fan added, “Nah he has a point, ilia risks his belt in the fight but Max doesnt have to, why? Didnt make any sense to me tbh.”

However, the fans also recollected the time when the lightweight champion disregarded his concern for the BMF belt. He called it a “belt for bums.” One of the fans claimed, “Islam said he doesn’t care about the bmf belt a long time ago tho.” Nevertheless, there were a few other fans who emphasized Dustin Poirier vs. Holloway 3. A comment read, “well if only max wasn’t defending the bmf belt against dustin at 318 right?’

Another fan believed that Topuria with the BMF title would have been dangerous. And the reason? The BMF belt would have found a stagnant spot with Topuria. The comment read, “If ilia had won the bmf belt, it would have meant that the bmf title will always belong to the undisputed champ. And the undisputed champ wouldnt defend the bmf belt over their division belt.”

On the other hand, many fans believed that ‘La Leyenda’ didn’t really deserve a shot at the title. Of course, the comment aligned with Makhachev’s belief that Topuria must prove himself as an LW first. The comment read, “A number 1 contender fight he 100% does not deserve a free title shot don’t care that had had an amazing 2 fight run other than that the kids done nothing his resume is 2 deep.” Meanwhile, many others claimed, “Lol We want Ilia Vs Islam thats it.”

What are your thoughts on the matchup between Topuria and Makhachev? Do you agree with Sonnen about Topuria carrying the BMF belt? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.