Ilia Topuria has heard Khabib Nurmagomedov’s criticism.
On Tuesday, Nurmagomedov provided his ideas on the Light-weight title image, a division presently owned by his protege and longtime workforce mate Islam Makhachev. Topuria is extensively seen as next-in-line for a shot at 155-pound gold, however most of Staff Makhachev is immune to that concept, together with Nurmagomedov. Per Nurmagomedov, too lots of Makhachev’s title defenses have already come versus Featherweights (and different odd circumstances), so they need a bonafide Light-weight contender for the sake of his legacy.
Topuria has a special view. In keeping with the previous Featherweight kingpin, Topuria is solely defending his buddy from shedding his belt.
“Khabib is aware of I’m the one to take the belt from Islam,” Topuria wrote on X. “Solely cause he doesn’t need Islam to battle me.”
Of the attainable Light-weight choices, Topuria is undoubtedly the very best profile choice, the opponent who would assist headline the most important card and promote essentially the most pay-per-view (PPV) buys. If Khabib, Makhachev, and co. aren’t , then clearly they are surely extra involved about his legacy than the rest. In that case, it’s arduous to beat the No. 1 pound-for-pound king taking over No. 3, who was extensively known as “Fighter of the 12 months” simply 4 months in the past!
There’s just one choice that could possibly be larger for Makhachev’s legacy: a second title. If Makhachev’s coaching companion, Welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, occurs to lose his belt to Australian slugger Jack Della Maddalena, Makhachev will probably be imminently fascinated with leaping up a weight class for a direct title shot of his personal.
Because it stands, UFC 315 is prone to determine the way forward for multiple division.
