He said that he wants Charles and then fight for the title, if anyone didn't know.
His "narrative" (hate that term) is 1- he struggles with weight cut 2- there are no big fights left in FW.
Let's say the UFC buys this "path".
There are heavy rumors around his team going for the big legends just starting their decline (i.e. Charles is 35) rather than the younger Diego and Evloev (30), even if Topuria is even younger than them (28 later this month).
Nothing to do with ducking, but a "strike while the iron is hot" mindset and a high risk/low reward opinion about the FW contenders.
To me, it's too big of an all-in.
He could get to the TS and then... well, it's MMA so, yeah, sure, he could beat Islam (let's assume it's him because if Arman wins, Islam would get an instant rematch making it even more complicated).
But, no matter how high you regard him, he shouldn't be favored against neither of them. Just as Volk wasn't.
If he loses against Charles, then what. He's 1'70 (metric system, sorry), if he bulks to 155 he'd have a hard time moving down again.
Even if the gets to the TS but loses, then what.
He's about to turn 28, has plenty of time to move up. Stack 1-2 more defenses and he could fight directly for the double belt instead.
His "narrative" (hate that term) is 1- he struggles with weight cut 2- there are no big fights left in FW.
Let's say the UFC buys this "path".
There are heavy rumors around his team going for the big legends just starting their decline (i.e. Charles is 35) rather than the younger Diego and Evloev (30), even if Topuria is even younger than them (28 later this month).
Nothing to do with ducking, but a "strike while the iron is hot" mindset and a high risk/low reward opinion about the FW contenders.
To me, it's too big of an all-in.
He could get to the TS and then... well, it's MMA so, yeah, sure, he could beat Islam (let's assume it's him because if Arman wins, Islam would get an instant rematch making it even more complicated).
But, no matter how high you regard him, he shouldn't be favored against neither of them. Just as Volk wasn't.
If he loses against Charles, then what. He's 1'70 (metric system, sorry), if he bulks to 155 he'd have a hard time moving down again.
Even if the gets to the TS but loses, then what.
He's about to turn 28, has plenty of time to move up. Stack 1-2 more defenses and he could fight directly for the double belt instead.
