Ilia Topuria has been itching to move up to the lightweight division for quite some time now. Just like every other UFC champion, ‘El Matador’ has dreams of becoming a double champion. And because of that, he has attacked Islam Makhachev, the undisputed lightweight champion, multiple times on social media. However, Chael Sonnen doesn’t think that making Makhachev fight Topuria would be a good move. 

Taking to his talk show, ‘The American Gangster’ said, “Topuria has already said he’d like to leave 145 lbs. Cuts a lot of weight. You gotta understand. The number 1 reason that athletes retire, number 1, they don’t wanna make the weight. How do you get Ilia out of 145 lbs? Right now at 155 lbs, there is not going to be an open door by Islam.”

He pointed out that the Dagestani champion had already faced such a challenge when Alexander Volkanovski decided to move up a weight class. And he rose victorious twice. Sonnen continued, “And making Islam eat all the pressure, that’s already been satisfied with Volkanovski. And to ask Islam to do that again is simply not realistic.” 

Sonnen didn’t leave the issue without a suggestion. And it lay with the featherweight champion moving to the 170-pound division. He said, “So how do you get Topuria out of 155 lbs? The quickest path is I don’t. I take him to 170 lbs. And you would have a lot easier path for Topuria at 170 lbs than you would at 155 lbs. And before you say he’s not big enough for 170 lbs, what difference does it make? If you’re gonna leave a world championship behind and you’re going to forge a new path and a new trail, what difference does it make?”

While Ilia Topuria pressed on and kept calling Islam Makhachev out, the lightweight champion didn’t pay heed to it in the beginning. Makhachev claimed that Topuria still had to fight a few more battles to earn his way to a title fight against him. But now, the lightweight champ seems to have changed his narrative. 

Will Islam Makhachev fight Ilia Topuria?

Not too long ago, @za.khabiba shared a video on Instagram that revealed Makhachev’s take on a fight against Topuria. Therein, the Dagestani champ believed that he needed to have a conversation with the Spaniard. But when it came to a fight, the Daegstani didn’t back away this time. He said, “He fights in a different weight class. If I defeat him, what will it give me? I don’t win the belt. Everyone will say I beat a fighter from a lower weight class again. That’s it. But if people want to see him lose, we can make that happen.”

Nevertheless, the final decision lay with Dana White and Co. During an interview with TMZ Sports, the UFC head honcho gave the example of Max Holloway and ‘The Great’ to deny Topuria a move to the next weight class. He said, “Before we start talking about guys moving up to other weight classes, I mean, look at Max Holloway. When he moved up, he had wiped out the entire division [and proved to be] the best 145-pounder, and then Volkanovski [did the same]. So there’s plenty of challenges [left] for him [Topuria] at 145.”

Needless to say, a fight between Makhachev and Topuria would be pretty interesting to watch. After all, ‘El Matador’ had previously claimed that he would love to become the first fighter to submit Makhachev. All we need to do now is wait and watch the story unfold. 

What do you think of Topuria’s callout? Do you agree with Sonnen’s analysis about Topuria’s move to the lightweight division? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.