Javier Mendez is not interested in UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev fighting Ilia Topuria – for now.
Featherweight champion Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) teased a move up to 155 pounds and expressed interest in a potential fight with Charles Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC).
Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) dismissed Topuria as an opponent, but Mendez thinks if Topuria beats former champion Oliveira, it would legitimize him as a lightweight title challenger.
“Charles is not an easy fight for anybody, and I slightly favor Ilia because of his power and his boxing precision,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “Charles is great. He’s good with everything. He’s coming with the knees, he’s coming with this. So you can never count Charles out. He was a world champion for a reason. He’s a great competitor still, and him and Arman’s fight, he came really close a lot of times to submitting Arman, too. So you can never count him out. That guy is still is a world beater, and he could definitely be a title contender again real soon.
“So let’s say he does fight Ilia. Then all of a sudden, Charles beats him. Then all of a sudden we have a rematch with Charles, which would be warranted at that point. So let’s see what happens. But him coming up in weight and wanting to stay at lightweight, it’s a good step in the right direction vs. coming up to weight then staying back down at featherweight. That doesn’t really do very much for Islam. So if (Topuria) fights another lightweight at lightweight, that means OK, now people will look at him like he’s a lightweight. He’s a true legit lightweight.”
Topuria’s head coach revealed that the main motivation behind a lightweight move is the weight cut. However, Mendez says Makhachev might walk around even lighter than Topuria.
Makhachev’s next title defense comes in a rematch against Arman Tsarukyan in the UFC 311 headliner on Jan. 18.
“He’s motivated,” Mendez said of Topuria. “He’s a champion, for sure. He’s proven it. He’s gone up in weight. I also was told his coach said he was 187 (pounds). Islam, I don’t think has ever been that heavy. Islam, when he starts training camp two months out, Islam is about 179, 178.
“The guy is a great fighter. He’s got the best boxing hands in the business, I feel – best technical. He can do a lot of damage if he goes up in weight, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m not interested in that fight whatsoever, at the present time. I’m interested in (Makhachev) defending against Arman, and then who knows – maybe the welterweight title is available at that particular time.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.
