UFC featherweight champ Ilia Topuria is torn. On the one hand, he wants to move up to lightweight to become a two-division champ partly because he is tired of cutting weight to make the 145-pound limit. Then again, ‘El Matador’ hasn’t cleaned out his division and his 145-pound legacy will be questioned if he doesn’t do so. Of course, the Spanish-Georgian has beaten arguably the two greatest featherweights in the history of the sport this year alone.

But you can see the fans saying both Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski were old, not at their best, and finding fault with the champ’s wins over them if he moves to 155. For now, it seems ‘El Matador’ will continue at featherweight, even as his coach has strongly indicated his desire to move up and fight lightweight king Islam Makhachev for the latter’s belt. But even if Topuria doesn’t move up in the near future, the specter of a mouth-watering Topuria-Makhachev clash is in the air, and the fans are wildly speculating how that would go.

But it’s not just the fans, even UFC stars are intrigued. “Can I ask you on a hypothetical, how do you think Ilia Topuria does against the likes of Islam Makhachev?” former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker was asked by his co-host, Jonny, on their ‘MMArcade’ podcast. ‘The Reaper’ felt, at lightweight, that the outcome of Topuria-Makhachev was too hard to predict. Why? Because there are “too many unknowns. I don’t know what he [Topuria] looks like as a lightweight, you know.”

On the other hand, Whittaker was sure what the result would be “If Makhachev went down to [featherweight to] fight Topuria, Topuria beats him.” But if they fought at 155, “Islam is so strong and powerful, and his boxing and kickboxing are, like, really topnotch. It’s come a long way since we first saw him,” according to the Kiwi former champ. But is there a chance that Makhachev will move down to fight ‘El Matador’ at 145?

What does ‘Team Khabib’ think about a clash against Topuria?

Islam Makhachev will make a lot of money, perhaps the most he has ever made in his career if he chooses to fight Topuria at featherweight. After all, ‘El Matador’ is on a Conor McGregor-like trajectory and is one of the most popular and exciting stars in the entire sport. But no, there is almost no chance the Dagestani will drop down to 145 to fight Topuria. Why? Well, we will let Makhachev’s coach, Javier Mendez explain.

“(Ilia) is a great fighter, and he’s been doing well, but he (Makhachev) doesn’t need to fight him. That’s my opinion. I think Tsarukyan is a better choice. That’s what I think. Ilia needs to do more in his weight class. He wants to go up in weight and challenge for a second belt, but we want to do the same,” the coach told MMA Junkie in an interview earlier this year.

The AKA head honcho is correct. Makhachev’s legacy will not be helped even if defeats Topuria, especially at featherweight. After all, fans will point out that the Dagestani was naturally bigger than Topuria, and call him a weight-bully. After all, Makhachev already faces those accusations even at lightweight, and the charges will be even more potent at 145. Not to mention Makhachev has been calling for his double-champ opportunity since last year. And going down would be a step in the wrong direction for him.

This is why it is almost out of the question that Makhachev goes down a weight class. And since Topuria is staying put at 145 for the time being, all the fans and even Robert Whittaker can do is speculate. Do you agree with Whittaker’s take on a Topuria-Makhachev 145-pound clash?