Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev is a super fight that has been teased recently. The Dagestani has been sitting pretty on the top of the lightweight division for a long time now. With Makhachev’s latest win over Renato Moicano, the reigning UFC lightweight champion further established his reign of dominance. However, it seems as if a looming threat in the name of Ilia Topuria is lurking in the shadows.
While ‘El Matador’ has vowed to dethrone the lightweight champion, a UFC veteran thinks that it might as well be a possibility. Former UFC star Michael Bisping recently explored the chances of both Topuria and Makhachev in ‘Submission Radio.’ Speaking on the topic, Bisping agreed that the proposed fight was indeed an interesting one.
“Ilia is a smaller guy, though. So you take two guys with great skill sets, the bigger guy is always going to win. But if anyone could make that happen, it’s Ilia Topuria. He’s knocked out Max Holloway. He’s knocking out everybody, and apparently, he’s even better at wrestling than he is at boxing,” opined Bisping.
Interestingly, Topuria himself sounded pretty confident about knocking Makhachev out. Meanwhile, taking the side of Ilia Topuria, another UFC star has picked ‘El Matador’ as the victorious one.
Dustin Poirier Pick Ilia Topuria As The Clear Favorite
Team Ilia Topuria seems to be getting bigger with each passing day. Just before Michael Bisping put his faith in Topuria, UFC lightweight star Dustin Poirier, too, claimed that it was possible for Topuria to knock Makhachev out. In a recent interaction with ‘The Schmo,’ Poirier opined that he thinks ‘El Matador’ has in his fists what it takes to knock out the Dagestani.
“I’ve never seen Topuria in person, but if he can make 145… Dude, Islam’s a big guy. I think he’s going to be a lot bigger than Topuria. But that being said, Topuria is an assassin, and I believe he can knock out anybody from 145 to 170 pounds,” Poirier said.
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Thus, it is evident that the hype is currently with Ilia Topuria. However, it will be interesting to see whether Islam Makhachev can prove everyone wrong if the duo ever locks horns inside the octagon.
