Did Ilia Topuria make a mistake moving up to 155lbs? After all, the soon-to-be-former featherweight champ still has no opponent for his lightweight saga. The fans were jubilant after the fighter previously nicknamed ‘El Matador’ announced that he would be vacating his featherweight throne and moving up for good. Almost everyone wanted to see the Spanish-Georgian superstar take on lightweight king Islam Makhachev in a veritable super-fight. But alas! That is not happening because the Dagestani just don’t see the benefit of facing yet another 145fer and want ‘La Leyenda’ to prove his legitimacy as a lightweight. No one has a clue about who the featherweight champ will fight next.
This must be a rude shock to the man himself, who has claimed that Dana White and Co. promised him a lightweight title shot right away. In fact, he insisted that is much of the reason he gave up the 145-pound belt and moved up. “I’m not entirely sure what my next fight will be. The only thing I’m sure of is that the UFC’s word is that my next fight will be for the world title. That’s all I know. The belt will be on the line. It will be on the line. That was the promise of leaving my title vacant. They’ve always kept their promises.” Topuria stated at the WOW presser.
And it seems that former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker feels that Topuria absolutely deserves a lightweight title shot next. Actually, his feelings are a bit more complicated. ‘The Reaper’ believes that giving a lower division champ the title shot straight away on moving may be a bit unfair to the rest of the division. However, the former champ feels that being a champion should carry some ‘weight’ and warrants a title shot at a higher weight class, especially if said champion vacates their title and moves up for good, as Topuria did.
“I don’t know what was promised or anything, but I feel like if you’re in a lower division and you vacate the title, you should go straight to the top of the pecking order. Title shot or, contender[ship bout]… I’d like to see him go straight into a title shot. Understandably, it can be tricky that way because there are a lot of guys. Like styles make fights, so if the champion of a lighter division has a better style to beat the guy in the higher division, where’s the fairness of that?” Whittaker said on the ‘MMArcade’ podcast.
“Because that guy may not get through 10 guys to get to a title shot, he may not get through the contenders, you know what I mean. It’s tricky. I just feel like there should be a certain amount of weight for being the champion of division already, you know. Like, especially doing the thing where, like okay, I want to move up. I’m vacating the title which is the right thing to do. It doesn’t hold anything up,” he added.
ALICANTE VALENCIAN COMMUNITY, SPAIN – MARCH 01: The mixed martial arts fighter, during an official reception for the UFC featherweight world champion, at the Alicante City Hall, March 1, 2024, in Alicante, Valencia, Spain. Mixed martial arts fighter Ilia Topuria was proclaimed UFC featherweight world champion on February 17 when he defeated reigning UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski at UFC 298. Topuria has a record of 15 victories and is the first Spanish UFC world champion. (Photo By Roberto Plaza/Europa Press via Getty Images)
As we have mentioned, Makhachev does not want to fight Topuria next. But ‘The Reaper’ feels like the Dagestani champ may not have a choice but to! Let’s see what he had to say on that front.
Robert Whittaker insists Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria is next for one reason
Islam Makhachev was offered the Topuria fight by the UFC, and the Dagestani turned it down, Russian news agency ‘TASS’ reported a couple of weeks ago. UFC Champions, after all, do get some sort of say in who they fight next. This is why most people feel the fight isn’t happening next. But ‘Bobby Knuckles’ isn’t one of those people. The Kiwi former champ just thinks the fight is too big and too lucrative for the UFC to not ram it down Makhachev’s throat.
“I think UFC is going to do what makes them the most money, you know. And mate, Makhachev, and Topuria [will make] big bucks, big bucks… That fight’s going to happen, that fight’s going to happen,” Whittaker declared.
This prompted his co-host, Jonny Roses, to point out another huge risk the UFC would be taking by having Topuria fight Charles Oliveira, who looks the other best candidate to fight ‘La Leyenda’ next. “Why risk it why risk Topuria fighting Charles [and taking a loss]?” Roses asked rhetorically.
Indeed, the fact that the soon-to-be-former featherweight champ is undefeated and looks invincible at the moment is much of the attraction for Makhachev-Topuria. The MMA equivalent of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, as some have put it. And a loss for the Spanish-Georgian would take the sheen off of him, which would ultimately not be too good for the promotion’s bottom line.
And Whittaker is sure the UFC won’t take that risk. What do you think about Robert Whittaker’s take on Ilia Topuria being promised a title shot at lightweight?
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