The fabled land of Dagestan has long been termed as the breeding ground for world-class grapplers. And who can deny this fact? The current 155lbs king Islam Makhachev and the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov come from that same tradition and pedigree. But Ilia Topuria had challenged their strongest suit and promised to be the first one to submit the lightweight champion inside the Octagon. Things, however, escalated when even ‘El Matador’s manager, Lukasz Orzel claimed that Topuria, would indeed submit Makhachev. But why did he say that?

Well because apparently the Spanish-Georgian has never even had a point scored on him during grappling sessions in the past two years at the Climent Club gym, where ‘El Matador’ trains. This prompted Makhachev’s coach, Javier Mendez to jump in and challenge Topuria to go to Dagestan and try his hand against wrestlers in gyms there.

The AKA head coach, of course, was implying that the featherweight champ is probably not fighting the best grapplers in the world like found in the region and against whom Makhachev trains. But Topuria’s manager disagrees. “Talking about Ilia’s grappling partners, our gym is as packed with beasts as Islam’s gym in Dagestan, if not more,” he said recently.

Although it’s hard to tell from his UFC stint, Topuria boasts an impressive Greco-Roman wrestling base. Not to mention, he holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has claimed that his grappling is better than his striking. All of this is to say Topuria is indeed a good wrestler.

But is he good enough to make the Dagestani submit? This claim is doubtful but possible as Topuria has made his name in the UFC by predicting the seemingly impossible and then doubling down on it by actually performing that feat. Moreover, there is just one way to find out and until he can fight Makhachev and prove otherwise, it is just a big claim that most would be right in dismissing. And we may just get to find out since Topuria has been calling out Makhachev, and the UFC could just oblige him.

Islam Makhachev finds himself on Ilia Topuria’s hit list

After his fantastic UFC 308 win over Max Holloway, Ilia Topuria didn’t really call out anyone and left his next outing up to the UFC to decide. However, he did have a face-off with former champ Alexander Volkanovski, whom he defeated earlier this year to become the 145-pound champ. That is why many think that a Topuria-Volkanovski rematch is probably next for ‘El Matador’.

However, that is not certain. After all, there is also #3 ranked Brazilian dynamo Diego Lopes waiting in the wings. The latter has set fire to the division on his way to the top,  getting early stoppages left and right. That is why a potential clash against Topuria next would also go down very well with fans.

Not to mention Lopes is much much younger than ‘Volk’ and the UFC seems to be partial to its younger talent at the moment. The third possible next fight for Topuria is, of course, a clash with Makhachev at 155lbs for a shot at becoming two-division champ. Of course, Makhachev and his camp are not very enthusiastic about the idea since the Dagestani will be fighting a lighter guy whose title will not be on the line.

But the head coach Javier Mendez has admitted that the Dagestani will accept a Topuria fight if the UFC offers it to him. The ball, as they say, is in the UFC’s court. What do you think about Ilia Topuria’s manager’s claims? Will we possibly witness Topuria and Makhachev scrapping it out inside the Octagon? Tell us in the comment section below!