Following Ilia Topuria’s successful title defense this past weekend, the coach of UFC lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev has assessed the possibility of a champ vs. champ collision down the line.
Topuria cemented his grip on the featherweight gold in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 308 pay-per-view, which he headlined opposite fan favorite Max Holloway eight months on from his crowning at the expense of Alexander Volkanovski in Anaheim.
Like against the Australian, “El Matador” sent “Blessed” to the canvas in brutal fashion, becoming the first to knock the Hawaiian out in the process.
At just 27 years old, Topuria has already established himself as one of the featherweight division’s all-time greats. And at such a young age, the Georgian-Spaniard has plenty of time to achieve his other ambitions on MMA’s biggest stage.
That unsurprisingly includes two-division glory, and having already recorded a vicious KO up at 155 pounds back in 2022, Topuria is confident in his chances of adding the UFC lightweight belt to his trophy collection.
During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Javier Mendez — coach of current lightweight titleholder Makhachev — reacted to Topuria’s triumph in Abu Dhabi.
The AKA trainer threw praise on the featherweight champ, notably branding his boxing the best in mixed martial arts. With that in mind, he wouldn’t be looking to have Makhachev throw down with the Spaniard in a potential super fight down the line.
I mean, when he took Max down with ease in the first round, I said, ‘That’s the way you fight MMA.’ And he has a very strong stand-up game,” Mendez said. “I would think that he’s probably the best boxer in the whole entire division. He’s really crisp and very on point with his boxing, and therefore you see how he uses it really, really well. His boxing, I think, is his best attribute out of everything he does. He’s impressive, very impressive. … I’ve been saying he’s a good boxer. But last night proved to me that he’s the best boxer presently in the UFC. Actually, in the entire world. He’s the best boxer in MMA.
That would be an area I’d be foolish to want to try to go up against, boxing for boxing. That’s not a smart move, you know? And it just would be like, if Ilia decided to go submission for submission with Islam, that’s not a smart move on his part either,” Mendez continued. “So, it’s all strategy, and how you approach it, how your fighter approaches it, and, you know, what mistakes you can correct while the fight is going on. That’s what I think is more important than anything. When the fight does get matched, it’s just your gameplan, your strategy, executing it, you know?
And if Topuria was to attempt to beat Makhachev at his own game, Mendez warned that he’d be taking on a challenge only achieved by the great Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The only person that really did the most with him was Khabib. And at the end of the day, the longer you grapple with Islam, the worse it’s going to get,” Mendez concluded.
The lightweight champ didn’t have much to say in the aftermath of the UFC 308 main event and didn’t address a potential clash with his featherweight counterpart down the line. Instead, Makhachev offered his congratulations to Topuria and some comforting words for the defeated Holloway.
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The Dagestani’s focus, then, is no doubt entirely on the challenge seemingly awaiting him in January 2025, as he prepares to run it back with Arman Tsarukyan.
