MMA Analyst Gives Surprising Take On Ilia Topuria Fight Announcement Ahead Of UFC 314

Ilia Topuria explains the challenges of bringing a UFC event to Spain and why it might not happen as easily as fans hope

Ilia Topuria

The scenario around Ilia Topuria has intensified quite a bit. With him vacating his featherweight title, the fight fans are longing to know who he will fight next. As of now, there has been a lot of speculation. While the biggest rumor is that of him facing Islam Makhachev, other alternatives cannot be rejected either. Talks about Topuria facing Charles Oliveira in a number one contender fight have been teased significantly. However, with the UFC realms in the doldrums, Ariel Helwani feels that the fight announcement must come soon.

In a recent appearance on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show,’ the analyst stated that the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes fight will lose its essence. This is because, with Topuria not officially getting a lightweight bout, the featherweight title will feel more like an interim fight.

“I feel like the UFC needs to clarify the Ilia Topuria situation by Saturday. This title fight happening without any sort of resolution as to what his next step is, is weird to me… If we get nothing, I feel like this will feel like an interim title for some reason… It just seems weird to me that this title fight is happening and we don’t know what he’s doing by now,” said Helwani.

Surely, with the calls regarding the UFC making the Topuria fight official, the upcoming days will be utterly interesting. Meanwhile, apart from Helwani, Brendan Schaub, too, questioned the possibility of Ilia Topuria getting a title bout.

Brendan Schaub Wants Ilia Topuria To Get A Title Fight

Team Ilia Topuria declines a contender match in the lightweight division, demanding a championship fight instead

Ilia Topuria

Islam Makhachev and his team might be reluctant to give Ilia Topuria a shot at the lightweight title. However, for MMA analyst Brendan Schaub, ‘El Matador’ must get his fight with Makhachev. In a recent interaction, Schaub stated that if Topuria does not get a title shot, he will lose out on PPV points.

“If you think Topuria is leaving 145 [pounds] to go up to ’55 and lose out on PPV points, you’re dumb… There’s no way his team would allow him to do that. It’s the fight business… Guarantee you the UFC was like. ‘All right. If you go up, we guarantee you a title shot,’” Schaub stated.

“If you think Topuria is leaving 145 [pounds] to go up to ’55 and lose out on PPV points, you’re dumb… There’s no way his team would allow him to do that. It’s the fight business… Guarantee you the UFC was like. ‘All right. If you go up, we guarantee you a title shot,’” Schaub stated.

Thus, with the situation getting complicated, it remains to be seen what happens next.