Jorge Masvidal says it’s no debate that Ilia Topuria is the greatest fighter of all time if he captures a third UFC belt.
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) tore through the featherweight division before relinquishing his belt for a move up to lightweight. He knocked out Charles Oliveira to capture the vacant title at UFC 317 and has his sights set on UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev.
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With Topuria’s past three wins coming in knockouts against current 145-pound champ Alexander Volkanovski, BMF champ Max Holloway, and former champ Oliveira, Masvidal says adding Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) to his resume would make “El Matador” undeniable.
“No one’s ever won three belts, and as it stands right now, it’s a very uphill battle for Ilia to go to 170 and beat Makhachev,” Masvidal said on his “Death Row MMA” podcast. “If he does, you can’t argue that he’s not the Michael Jordan, that he’s not above everybody: Jon Jones, GSP, like you’ve got to put him in his own category of greatness, and nobody can say anything about it. You’ve just got to sit there and be like, ‘Yup, he did it, and that’s crazy.’ When you’re fighting Volkanovski in his prime and you end him, when you’re fighting Max Holloway in his prime and you end him, and then you go up and end Charles Oliveira, it’s like, damn, who is this mythological figure?
“Now you’re talking about he’s going to go to 170 and beat the No. 1 pound-for-pound guy in the whole sport that’s been holding it down for like four or five years, just crushing everybody. The biggest names he just crushes and takes them into a black hole and submits them. Ilia gets that done, you put that dude in his own place. Every head in this sport will turn, every fighter. No matter how much they dislike Ilia, yup, Ilia’s the damn truth because he’s the complete opposite fighter to beat a guy like Ilia is Makhachev. That’s the type of guy you need to beat Ilia, somebody who could just keep it on the mat because if you stand on the feet with this guy, your time is limited.”
For now, Topuria appears to be gearing up for a title-unification bout against Justin Gaethje, who captured the interim lightweight title by defeating Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324. Topuria has been out of action after ongoing legal issues with his ex-wife but is targeting a return any time from April to June.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jorge Masvidal: How Ilia Topuria could be Michael Jordan of MMA
