Career defining move for Ilia

[Aurelian]

Walking away with 1 defense should take him out of the running but some will still try to claim he surpassed Aldo as Goat FW champ.

If Ilia really is struggling to make weight this is better than having another Charles situation.

 

[Chayanne]

too fat too much paella, Islam must not fight now against Ilia, has nothing to win against smaller opponent. If Islam wins it is normal, smaller fighter

 

[BEATDOWNS]

If Ilia loses to Islam he's the next guy at Featherweight for a shot. He'll drop right back down. It's a smart move by him.

but will he still drink his wine before teh weigh ins is the real question

 

[fortheo]

At least he's taller than volk lol. I don't think size will be that much of an issue unless he's fighting the 6'3 giant Lightweights. If he bulks up some, he could be like an Arman sized LW...maybe

 

[Rio Ferdinand]

Too small for LW in my opinion.

He is even smaller than Conor.

Will get ragdolled by guys like Islam.

 

[Aurelian]

What's fucking crazy is oddsmakers are giving Ilia a better chance at beating Islam than they gave Arman.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Hes probably gonna lose to Islam and maybe Do Bronx so I wouldnt say its a good move really. He would have dominated FW for years most likely.

Still, you cant really criticize the guy for aiming high.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Fuck it. After Belal Muhammad vs Jack Della Maddalena the winner should fight Illa.

Let's have Illa skip over the 155 champ to fight the 170 champ and Islam skip over the the 170 champ to fight the 185 champ.

Let's really shake up everything if that's the direction they're going.

 

[JoeRowe]

He'll definitely be the smallest 155 champ since Frankie if he wins it.

 

[FrappeDuRocma]

When Islam will kick his ass, people will pretend that he's a FW...

 

[Feaser]

Ilya has definitely defined his career now. It’s a Conor McGregor career. If he manages to beat Ishlam, he can try to box Canelo and then start a vodka business. If he’s smart, he’ll just retire after that.

 

[Rapa]

He already gave Volkanovski 2 shot

He gave volk shot? He was one who called out volk

 

[svmr_db]

He gave volk shot? He was one who called out volk

He gave Volk an opportunity lol, Volk was interested in double champ status. In case you forgot the reason Volk was even in the crowd at UFC 280 was because the UFC was letting him fight the winner of Oliveira vs Makhachev, it's not like Makhachev created the whole idea of fighting Volk on his own.

 

[JakePaulMMA]

Matt Serra won the belt at 170 and he was the size of an 8th grader

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Frankie Edgar did LW just fine when he was a small guy

Ilia has the correct skill-set to be smaller and yet effective against the top guys

 

[dipstickjimmy]

If Ilia really is struggling to make weight this is better than having another Charles situation.

If he can't make FW anymore I think moving up is smart. He just simply isn't in the GOAT FW discussion. Just days ago someone and I were going back and forth on the idea that if Topuria defended against Volk, Evolev & Lopes he would have surpassed or equalled Aldo. That was a dumb "Hypothetical" to even discuss when a guy is at 1 defense. But Sherdog gonna Sherdog.

But Topuria did surpass McGregor in the FW champions all time list.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Not trying to overblow it, but if he loses at LW in his first fight especially if it's not Islam..

By vacating he lost champ PPV points, double champ status, undefeated record, and GOAT potential.

Thoughts?

If he can't make FW and still perform anymore then he would have lost it in the cage. I suspect since he vacated to allow the UFC to book Volk vs Lopes for the main event in Miami in April he probably negotiated something for himself. Perhaps a bigger guaranteed salary and or even a LW title shot/title eliminator.

I would be happy if they book Arman vs Ilia in an official #1 Contender match up.

 

[omawho402]

Islam is moving up to WW, I guarantee it. The Belal "friendship" is one sided, Islam will have no problem fighting him if he's still champ after the JDM fight.

So Topuria won't end up fighting Islam and claim LW gold from someone else. He'll likely use Poirier as a stepping stone to his title shot.

 

[Hog-train]

Ilya is too much of a manlet for the bigger LW's - especially the ones that grapple. I can see Charles submitting him and Armen just taking him down and lay and pray.

 

[Tweak896]

I think Topuria would still out strike anyone at LW. I don't see it as the worst move. Going to be interesting to see how he does against the grapplers but Islam would show that. Pretty sure he's ahead of Olivera, Gaethje, Poirier striking on the feet. With Topuria's background in wrestling, he should be able to keep it standing for a majority of the fight.