UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria cemented his reign as the best in the weight class by defending the belt for the first time at UFC 308. After doing what he said he would do and becoming the first man to knock out Max Holloway, he’s becoming harder to deny.
“El Matador” has got a proven track record at this stage for making his goals come true and if that’s going to continue being the case, we’re in for an all-time great UFC run. Having stopped two of the greatest champions in UFC history in back-to-back fights, the champion wants more belts.
Topuria has spoken many times about his goal to not only move up to lightweight but to one day compete at welterweight also. Following his impressive display in Abu Dhabi, the intrigue of seeing him go up against the 155-pound king Islam Makhachev certainly increased.
During a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, Josh Thomson and “Big” John McCarthy discussed this fight and how they think it would play out. Thomson, who previously trained with Makhachev at AKA, does not think it would go well for Topuria.
Instead, he believes that the 145-pound champion should stay in his weight class where several contenders await him. Considering how quickly he rose to the top of the division, following his likely rematch with Alexander Volkanovski next time out, there’s still other challenges like Diego Lopes or the winner of Movsar Evloev vs Aljamain Sterling for him to attend to.
Thomson said that in his opinion, he thinks Topuria should stay put for the time being so that he can continue to beat opponents at his natural weight class before going for a second belt.
“You’ve just dominated two of the best guys that have ever graced that weight class. If I was to say hey, make your easy money, and I’m not saying these guys are easy fights. They’re not easy fights but I’m saying they’re not going to get easier going up so why not just stay where you’re at, cash out as much as you possible can on these type fights, guys that you’re comfortable fighting. You’ve been training your whole life to fight at this weight class.”
