ILIA TOPURIA is the new king of the UFC’s lightweight division.
The Georgian-born Spaniard became only the TENTH fighter in the history of MMA’s premier promotion to hold titles in two weight classes last weekend in the main event of UFC 317 in Las Vegas.
Ilia Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 to claim the vacant lightweight title[/caption]
The Georgian-born Spaniard became a two-weight world champion with victory over Oliveira[/caption]
The world is Topuria’s oyster following his historic victory[/caption]
‘El Matador’ claimed the vacant lightweight title with a blistering first-round KO of former champion Charles Oliveira in front of a sold-out crowd at the T-Mobile Arena.
Attention has already turned to who the 28-year-old will fight in his maiden defence of the 155lbs throne, which he’ll no doubt be hoping will take place in his adopted homeland of Spain.
And SunSport is on hand with five fighters the new fan favourite could face in his next outing.
Paddy Pimblett
Given their long-standing beef, which stemmed from social media comments Pimblett made about Georgians, this fight is an absolute no-brainer.
The pair are currently the two biggest names in the stacked division, so pitting them together, especially when they’re both in red-hot form, makes sense.
The build-up to this one would be box office, especially after their blockbuster post-fight face-off and near-brawl.
UFC supremo Dana White has, however, already revealed he’s not keen on pitting the pair against one another next.
But the demand for this fight, the biggest the promotion can make at the moment in time, is white hot.
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Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett had a heated face-off inside the octagon[/caption]
So the UFC would be foolish not to capitalise while the iron is hot and book this long overdue clash of stars.
Islam Makhachev
Topuria, of course, moved up from featherweight in February to pursue a champion-versus-champion with pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev.
Makhchev, as we all know, ended up begrudgingly vacating the 155lbs belt to pursue welterweight gold once former training partner Belal Muhammad lost the belt to Jack Della Maddalena.
The Dagestani destroyer is understood to harbour ambitions of reclaiming the belt he won in October 2022.
It would make for a fantastic storyline if Makhachev were to win gold at 170lbs and drop back down to 155lbs to try to reclaim what was once his in a super-fight fans are still pining for.
Arman Tsarukyan
The Armenian, of course, was set to challenge Makhachev for the belt in January before a freak back injury less than 48 hours before fight night scuppered the bout.
Tsarukyan, who is on a four-fight win streak, weighed in as the backup fighter for the main event.
So it would make sense for him to be in the running to be Topuria’s first opponent for his reign as king of the lightweights.
Arman Tsarukyan weighed in as the backup fighter for UFC 317’s main event so is in the title mix[/caption]
Justin Gaethje
He may only be riding a one-fight win streak, and just over a year removed from a brutal KO at the hands of Max Holloway, but there is a case for Gaethje getting the title shot.
He did the UFC brass a favour by agreeing to defend the BMF belt against Holloway at UFC 300 following back-to-back wins of Rafael Fiziev and Dustin Poirier.
The promotion threw a boatload of cash at Gaethje in order to jazz up their tri-centennial card and his decision to take the fight cost him dearly.
Doing him a solid and giving him a third crack at undisputed lightweight gold at Topuria is the least the UFC could do.
Justin Gaethje is holding out for a tite shot and will retire if he doesn’t get one[/caption]
Max Holloway
Although Topuria became the first man to crack Holloway’s chin in his first and final featherweight title defence, there is still some interest in a rematch between the pair.
Holloway cut a drained figure in their fight as he was returning to the weight class having filled out his frame to face Gaethje in their BMF bout at UFC 300.
The weight cut could’ve played a role in his chin finally giving out, although Topuria does carry insane power in both hands.
Either way, should Holloway win his trilogy fight with Poirier next month in emphatic fashion, the appetite for a rematch will likely be there.
A rematch with Max Holloway could potentially happen down the line for Ilia Topuria[/caption]
