For the first time in a long time, there is a new champion at the top of the featherweight division who is going to have a target on his back.
Ilia Topuria has made a huge impact since signing with the UFC and his knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski to claim the 145-pound gold was his best performance to date.
If “El Matador” wants to stay at the top for a long time, he doesn’t just have to worry about the contenders that are currently in the mix like Max Holloway and Movsar Evloev.
There are plenty of competitors coming through that all hope to square off with Topuria down the line and the champ is certainly someone that Hyder Amil has got in his sights.
Hyder Amil Believes He Matches Up Well With Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria
Undefeated featherweight contender Amil maintained his perfect start to life in the UFC this past weekend, where he stopped Jeong Yeong Lee in the first round.
As he continues to climb up the rankings, he has a potential path to the top already laid out in front of him in his mind.
He spoke in a recent interview with MMA News about how once he makes it to title contention, after taking out England’s Arnold Allen along the way, he hopes that Topuria is still the champion.
Amil said that alongside a fight with Holloway not being ideal, he believes that he has the ability to cause the current titleholder some serious problems if their paths were to cross inside the Octagon.
“I need someone in top 30-20, then maybe another person or two, fight Arnold Allen, knock him out and then fight Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway. Ideally I fight Ilia Topuria. Max Holloway has kind of connections to my team, that would be a great fight also but stylistically, I would mess up Ilia Topuria. I don’t care what anyone says.”
