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Evloev believes it’s not a good idea for Ilia
Topuria to fight Islam
Makhachev at welterweight.
Lightweight champion Topuria has long been eyeing a clash against
welterweight champion Makhachev. Topuria is currently expected to
fight interim champion Justin
Gaethje in a title unifier. While Evloev was impressed with
Gaethje’s interim title win over Paddy
Pimblett last month, he believes “The Highlight” is highly
susceptible to a knockout against Topuria. However, Evloev believes
Topuria stands no chance at welterweight against Makhachev, who is
visibly bigger and on a different level.
Another Level
“It’s a stupid move,” Evloev told Submission Radio. “I think if Ilia does this, he will
lose everything. But he has the power to fight at lightweight, and
I don’t think it’s going to be a good fight for Gaethje if they
fight. Gaethje’s fight [against Pimblett] was so good, but he
missed a lot of punches. That’s not a good idea with Ilia. If
[Ilia] touches [Justin], he’ll knock him out, but with Islam, it’s
not going to happen. Islam is so huge and on another level.”
Topuria (17-0) was the featherweight champion when he started
calling for a double champ bid against then-lightweight champion
Makhachev. However, Makhachev (28-1) wasn’t willing to grant
Topuria a title shot until “El Matador” had been tested at
lightweight. Makhachev eventually vacated the title and moved up to
welterweight, where he dominantly dethroned Jack
Della Maddalena to win the title this past November. Meanwhile,
Topuria defended the featherweight title just once before moving up
to lightweight, where he knocked out Charles
Oliveira to win the vacant title last year.