Remember what happened last time Ilia Topuria changed his Instagram bio to “UFC Featherweight Champion” before fighting Alexander Volkanovski? Yeah—he backed it up. Now, ‘La Leyenda’ is at it again, but this time, he’s added “UFC Lightweight Champion” to the mix. Shall we anticipate a confrontation? The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard has been relentlessly calling out Islam Makhachev, but Team Khabib isn’t exactly rolling out the red carpet. For them, Topuria hasn’t earned it—yet. Amid the buzz, Daniel Cormier has stepped in, throwing his own two cents into the fire, comparing Khabib Nurmagomedov to Makhachev.
“My personal opinion — not necessarily [more] dangerous, let’s say more competitive — I think it’s [Arman] Tsarukyan,” Nurmagomedov said of Makhachev’s next potential fight, completely shunning Ilia Topuria’s callout for the lightweight championship. The former featherweight champion relinquished his 145 lbs title to move up to the lightweight division. Many believed Topuria made this move solely because he was promised an immediate title shot, but it appears that Team Khabib is in no mood to entertain the divisional newcomer’s wish.
As Khabib Nurmagomedov sets the path for Islam Makhachev‘s career, Daniel Cormier has come forward to explain the reason why the former lightweight champion was not keen on giving Topuria a chance to claim the 155 lbs gold, “Hearing Khabib there makes me feel that it’s not going to happen. So, when you look forward, what we have is this: we have Makhachev as a champ. Tsarukyan, they said, is not getting the title fight now. Gaethje just had a really great performance over Fiziev, and I said on record, I think that should be the fight, because I think that is what people are speaking of when Khabib says “the big name.”
He further added, “Because Islam does have more title fight wins than most, but think about this: when Khabib was the champ, his title defenses were against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje—three names. Islam has title fight victories, but they’re Volkanovski (huge name of the featherweight), Volkanovski (huge name of the featherweight), Dustin Poirier (name, right?), and he probably felt the love after Renato Moicano, right? On short notice.”
MOSCOW, RUSSIA AUGUST 18, 2021: Russian mixed martial artist and UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov gives a news conference. Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxONLY TS10CE3D
It is a known fact that Khabib Nurmagomedov is the main figure behind Team Khabib. As the leader of the team, he has the ultimate say in every decision the team makes. So, for him to claim that Ilia Topuria is not ‘the next’ clearly draws a line for the former featherweight champion. Daniel Cormier further emphasized that Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to build Islam Makhachev’s legacy, but it will not be built if he keeps giving title shots to everyone. “So, of his four fights there, there are a lot of situations where he just didn’t probably feel the love. And if you’re trying to build a legacy, you’ve got to feel that love.”
How did Ilia Topuria react to this news? Well, the former champion took to his X handle to criticize the former lightweight champion, “Khabib knows I’m the one to take the belt from Islam,” Topuria wrote, “Only reason he doesn’t want Islam to fight me.” Well, a fight between Topuria and Islam Makahchev would sell like hotcakes, but the reluctance of Team Khabib has been the blockade in the happening of the clash. Amidst this, Chael Sonnen has come forward with a piece of advice for Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Chael Sonnen sets his narrative straight against Khabib Nurmagomedov
Islam Makhachev has defended his title four times inside the Octagon. However, two of those defenses were short-notice fights—one against Alexander Volkanovski and the other against Renato Moicano. Well, the Dagestani wants to conquer a second belt before retiring from the sport, and Khabib Nurmagomedov appears to be helping him on the path, and this is one of the prime reasons why Ilia Topuria has not been given a chance to fight for the lightweight title.
Chael Sonnen believes that this is nothing but hypocritical behaviour from Team Khabib. “What you’re describing and suggesting Islam do next is exactly what Ilia is in the process of doing,” ‘The American Gangster’ stated on his YouTube channel. He further added, “For me, talking about Ilia Topuria, you’ve got an undefeated champion of the world who’s now in your weight class. Obviously, he’s the #1 contender. But for other guys to go, ‘Well, he hasn’t proved it here. Matter of fact, look, he’s got no ranking here. He’s got no wins over anybody here. We don’t discount what he did. But he didn’t do it here.’ That’s a little bit weak, but kinda hard to argue against.”
Time and time again, the UFC has granted title shots to fighters who were either returning from a long hiatus or injuries. Jon Jones’ return, as well as Alexander Volkanovski’s, are prime examples. So it should come as no surprise that Ilia Topuria wants the same opportunity. But the real question is—will the UFC give him a title shot? State your opinion in the comments below.
The post Khabib Becomes the Real Problem for Islam Makhachev as Daniel Cormier Reveals True Intentions Behind Ilia Topuria Snub appeared first on EssentiallySports.
