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- Nov 2, 2017
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Yes, it is. Specially since his hardest fight was against a "smaller men"... Again, Volk was the one who got the closest to beat him. Illia defeated likely not a prime Volk like the one who almost beat Islam, but not a short notice one like the second fight, he defeated a legit camping dangerous Volk by 2nd round KO on Volk's original weight class which he dominated. Illia also KO'd Max who was coming off a big win vs Justin Gaethje, one of the top LWs... So to say Topuria is not a big problem to Islam, whose biggest test was "smaller man Volk", is preposterous. He is a big problem, that's why despite it being a big $ fight more than any other there at LW, Islam and Khabib want for Islam Makhachev to go up. Makhachev had said before he'd never give the LW title after he defeated Money Moicano, that if any fighter wanted it, to call Dana and let him know that he'd defend it vs anyone. Illia made the decision and was like ok, I'll go straight to it... He wasn't bluffing, Topuria showed he was totally ready like a bullet to go straight to take it from Makhachev. Then the discourse changed, Makhachev went from "it can be anyone... As long as there is a fighter who makes weight and Dana says that's the fight, I'll fight" to "I will fight only Arman or Charles otherwise I'm going to welterweight, doesn't matter who I have to fight there!" ...
Either he didn't think Topuria would be "brave" enough to basically vacate the title of his own division and advocate to fight Makhachev straight away — which is a sign of extreme confidence too... Topuria is also a star, maybe bigger than Makhachev. He knows how big his wins were, against two legends, being the only one of that division who had done that to Volk and Max one after the other... So it is risky to vacate his title and call the shots vs Islam, as in... If he loses, he's pretty much screwed too. Ppl would never mention him in a GOAT conversation or anything unless he had a rematch. But ppl underrate Topuria's mentality. He went straight to the fire and was like "let's go then"... Knowing that Dana was inclined to give him the right to fight Makhachev, and that just strengthened his position, Islam Makhachev saw he wasn't BS'ing like Connor by just being a loud mouth and speaking hot... That he had this ability too, plus is a S+ fighter, is younger than Islam Makhachev (something I don't remember Khabib and Islam dealing with), a talented young fighter, hunger... With a big KO power, very legit wrestling (he trained for a long time with Khamzat Chimaev in wrestling too, said by Khamzat himself...) and also, who's big, even for LW. Actually, it's estimated that Topuria's best weight, which maximizes his efficiency, and would be the weight he fights during fight day in LW, is ~ 175 / 180 lbs... As big as fucking Makhachev. His KO power though, with his speed, would be more than anything Islam dealt with. And his wrestling is just totally legit.
IMO... He would KO Makhachev. It wouldn't be easy but I don't think it'd go to the distance. It'd be another shocking moment, ground breaking one. Like when JJ came and defeated the old legends of his division. I imagine Topuria would get a KO or a finish after stunning Maka and catching him in the ground before the championship rounds.
