The coach of Alexander Volkanovski believes UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria hasn’t yet earned a chance to add the lightweight belt to his collection.
Topuria has risen to the 145-pound mountaintop in brutal fashion this year, first knocking out Volkanovski to capture the crown at UFC 298 in Anaheim this past February.
Eight months later, “El Matador” cemented his grip on the title by becoming the first man to stop the great Max Holloway with strikes. Topuria achieved that feat in the main event of last month’s UFC 308 pay-per-view in Abu Dhabi, closing the show with a vicious left hook in round three.
The Spaniard is quickly building a strong legacy at featherweight, and at the age of just 27, he has plenty of time to achieve his goal of surpassing the champs that came before him in the division.
Topuria, however, appears to already have one eye on conquering another weight class. Even before he added Holloway’s name and a first defense to his résumé, the fast-rising star outlined his plans to dethrone lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev.
In addition to going back and forth with the Dagestani on social media, Topuria has even vowed to beat Makhachev at his own game by becoming the first to submit him.
One man who is certainly familiar with the lightweight champ, however, has told Topuria to hold his horses…
During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, coach Joe Lopez reacted to Topuria’s talk of a move up in weight. Volkanovski’s trainer insisted that “El Matador” remains far from having earned the right to challenge the titleholder above him.
“That’s great (Topuria wanting Makhachev), but you’ve gotta have — like with anybody, you’ve gotta have at least five or six title defenses before you start looking at doubling up,” Lopez said. “You’re just holding up divisions. When you’ve cleaned out a division, then you’ve got the right to jump up a division. Until then, you’ve just gotta fight the cause in your division, you know?
“I guess it’s like jumping the queue and you want to have the title shot before somebody else that’s above you, you know? But it’s just human nature, I guess,” Lopez continued. “Everybody wants that double champ status ’cause it’s very rare to get.”
Volkanovski himself recorded four successful defenses before his first opportunity to add a second title to his trophy cabinet in 2023. A fifth then came ahead of a sophomore chance at unseating Makhachev on short notice that same year.
With that in mind, it would appear Topuria has some work to do before looking to prove his confidence correct when it comes to outgrappling Makhachev inside the cage.
