Ilia Topuria won’t accept anything less than a UFC lightweight title shot for his next fight.
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) has reiterated that he was promised an immediate title shot at 155 pounds by the UFC after vacating his featherweight belt. However, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) and his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, insist that Topuria needs to earn his shot by beating a No. 1 contender, with Nurmagomedov also not wanting Makhachev to fight another featherweight.
So what will Topuria do?
“I would like to fight with Islam, that’s for sure. I would like to fight him,” Topuria said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “I wouldn’t fight for a No. 1 contender fight. If Islam decides he doesn’t want to fight me, I don’t care. I’ll sit until you’re going to have to fight me. You say that you are a world champion, that you’re going to keep dominating the division, all that. I’m here. You can’t keep avoiding me all the time.
“I don’t think they would put me on the sidelines, because I vacated the belt because I told them I wouldn’t fight at 145 again, but I got a promise that I would fight for the title in my next fight. So, how much time you will stop me from fighting?”
Topuria senses fear from Nurmagomedov.
Two of Makhachev’s four lightweight title defenses came against current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. His most recent title defense came in a win over short-notice replacement Renato Moicano at UFC 311, after his original opponent Arman Tsarukyan withdrew the day before their fight.
