Topuria Title Defenses

[jeff7b9]

How does your hypothetical 4 defenses tie Topuria with Aldo?
Aldo has 7 defences of the UFC FW title alone. Add the fact he won the WEC FW title and defended it twice and that was the highest level in the world for FW and below.
9 > 4 and your 4 is actually 1 right now and he is talking about leaving the divsion already. Topuria will never surpass Aldo as FW GOAT.

#DefensesMatter

Aldo won 11 title fights.

Ilia has won 2 and already seems like he may be struggling to continue making 145.

There's nothing to talk about.
No one can come even close to the longevity that guys like Aldo, Anderson and Mighty Mouse had, so fans want to grade every current champ on a huge curve and act like doing less than half the work is the same thing.

The 2nd half is the hard part. Title wins 6-11 are the ones that come after multiple injuries and surgeries. Continuing to win without his kicks, which imo were his best weapon is maybe the most impressive thing he did.
Those are the fights where the opponent has been training for the champ specifically. That's when the champ has to stay focused even for the less exciting challengers because the top 5 is already cleared out.

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

He should knockout volk in April then fight Movsar in August or September. If he does that then he will have 3 title defenses and beaten the best guys in the division. He can move up after that

 

[kingmob6]

I think Lopes is his biggest threat just due to heart and not being intimidated. For some reason I think Top runs through Evloev though.

I think the opposite. Lopez is too sloppy for Topuria, he is going to sleep.

 

[HuskySamoan]

After KO'ing Volk and Max, everyone else in the division feels like a huge downgrade.

How does Evloev ever feel like a downgrade? A completely different set of skills than those two, in his prime just turned 30, 19-0 (9-0 UFC)? Then you got a couple Brazilians, Diego Lopes of course and potentially Jean Silva who's dispatching of Dober at 155 was super impressive, he needs a better dance partner than Melsik.

 

[HeadKickerV2]

Movsar has a granite chin and a weird style... would love to see that fight

Somehow i feel Lopes will be easier fight for Topuria than Movsar but well see

 

[SuperAlly]

After KO'ing Volk and Max, everyone else in the division feels like a huge downgrade.

Such is life

 

[dipstickjimmy]

5 of Aldos 9 were whatever. 4 of them were elite. The 4 for Topuria are elite and arguably better than Aldos 4 elite wins

If Topuria defends 9x then he'd likely surpass Aldo

If Aldo was fighting the best FWs in the world how were they "Whatever". Was there some other place all these "Elite" FW fighters were competing and Aldo was fighitng lesser competition? Saying Topuria's competition is better is dumb. Wilt Chamberlain is still a GOAT baskeball player despite the fact that a roster of NBA players today are better than those from Wilt's era.

Even more dumb is the statement "The 4 for Topuria are elite". He doesn't have 4. He might not even try to get a 2nd.

 

[Koro_11]

Word.

and same goes for earning that shot at LW - should be dead easy if you are as good as you keep saying. Get it done already!

Anderson would (during his reign as champ) happily take short notice fights at LHW and merk them. Now that guy showed us what greatness was.

Anderson matrixing Forrest Griffin who was just one fight removed from being the 205 champ still remains the greatest MMA masterclass of all time imo, no one did it like the Spider.

 

[don't ask]

The best thing for the UFC and Topuria to do is for him to defend the belt multiple times.

IMO this should be his next defenses

Volk
Evloev (could wait for the shot)
Lopes (needs 1 more win imo)

This would TIE Aldo as the FW GOAT and clean out the division making a LW title fight a serious bout

What say you sher bros?

I don't think that puts him on par with Aldo, but that seems like an acceptable point for him to fight Islam.

 

[EnthusiastCultivator]

How does your hypothetical 4 defenses tie Topuria with Aldo?
Aldo has 7 defences of the UFC FW title alone. Add the fact he won the WEC FW title and defended it twice and that was the highest level in the world for FW and below.
9 > 4 and your 4 is actually 1 right now and he is talking about leaving the divsion already. Topuria will never surpass Aldo as FW GOAT.

#DefensesMatter

Guys back then earned title shots after a few wins, so naturally title defenses are higher. Nowadays the standards are much higher. This is a fact because there are double the amount of fighters as there was 10 years ago.

 

[HavokHarmon]

I say how the hell does Alex get the next shot? That’s what I say.

1-3 in his last 4. And two losses in a row.

If not for the TWO freebies at LW. I’d be fine with the instant rematch.

Let the fucking division move on, ffs.

No instant rematch.. No Superfights.

Three guys with one defence each at 125, 135, and 145. They all need to defend in their own divisions, fighting the next guy in line.

I’m generally in agreement with your sentiment but if any champ ever deserved an instant rematch after losing their belt it’s Volk. Hes had the title since 2019 and defended it 5 times. In fact I think Ilia might be his first loss at 145.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Illa moving up and fighting for the LW title while holding on to the FW it a huge win/win for him.

If he can actually get that fight it's the best option for him.

 

[r-harper-1]

Evloev should finish a fight

 

[Koro_11]

I’m generally in agreement with your sentiment but if any champ ever deserved an instant rematch after losing their belt it’s Volk. Hes had the title since 2019 and defended it 5 times. In fact I think Ilia might be his first loss at 145.

Volk deserves it, but giving it to him is not doing him any favours because he’s just gonna get wrecked again.

Volk would be better off taking a step back and fighting someone like Evloev which is a winnable fight and hoping Ilia moves up to 155 in the meantime.

 

[BowserJr]

Aldo was fighting the best FWs in the world how were they "Whatever". Was there some other place all these "Elite" FW fighters were competing and Aldo was fighitng lesser competition? Saying Topuria's competition is better is dumb. Wilt Chamberlain is still a GOAT baskeball player despite the fact that a roster of NBA players today are better than those from Wilt's era.

Yes he faced the best of that day but most of them were a step down co.pared to today. The top 4 are arguably as good as the top 4 of today.

Prime Edgar, Mendes, Faber, Brown are as good as Volk, Holloway, Evloev, Lopes.

After that the opponents from back then are not as good IMO

Even more dumb is the statement "The 4 for Topuria are elite". He doesn't have 4. He might not even try to get a 2nd

That's cuz you don't know how to read. The discussion is on the hypothetical that Topuria fights and beats Volk (again) Evloev and Lopes. I'm making the case that he should.

 

[Koro_11]

Yes he faced the best of that day but most of them were a step down co.pared to today. The top 4 are arguably as good as the top 4 of today.

Prime Edgar, Mendes, Faber, Brown are as good as Volk, Holloway, Evloev, Lopes.

After that the opponents from back then are not as good IMO



That's cuz you don't know how to read. The discussion is on the hypothetical that Topuria fights and beats Volk (again) Evloev and Lopes. I'm making the case that he should.

No, none of those 4 guys come close to Volk and Max. Evloev and Lopes maybe, but their story is still being written.

 

[Gabe]

Volk doesn’t deserve a shot he should have to win a fight first. Give it to Lopes or Evloev.

 

[McGeezle]

Volk is the one who needs at least 1 win. What a waste of fucking time when there are 2 deserving contenders waiting. How can anyone get hyped for volk coming off 2 KO losses ffs. The matchmakers make me sick

 

[Flower2dPeople]

The best thing for the UFC and Topuria to do is for him to defend the belt multiple times.

IMO this should be his next defenses

Volk
Evloev (could wait for the shot)
Lopes (needs 1 more win imo)

This would TIE Aldo as the FW GOAT and clean out the division making a LW title fight a serious bout

What say you sher bros?

I've said this before. He should cement his fw legacy before chasing money fights in another division. Wait for his body to say "nah" when cutting down to fw.

 

[BowserJr]

No, none of those 4 guys come close to Volk and Max. Evloev and Lopes maybe, but their story is still being written.

Prime Frankie Edgar is at least equal to Volk. He'd arguably beat Volk.

Mendes and Holloway are very different fighters but prime Mendes would likely give Topuria a tougher fight since his wrestling was very fucking good.

Not disagreeing that Max is probably better overall which is why I was topurias wins over Max and Volk slightly higher than Edgar & Mendes