Chael Sonnen refuses to believe that UFC champion Islam Makhachev is avoiding Ilia Topuria.
Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) previously said he wasn’t interested in defending his lightweight title against another featherweight in Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC), who is vacating his belt for a move up to 155 pounds.
Makhachev’s manager also said he’d like to see Topuria earn his shot at the title by fighting a top contender. But considering two of Makhachev’s four title defenses came against ex-featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski, Sonnen says it isn’t fair to put him in that predicament again.
“My first sense is that’s fake news, and it’s a real insult to Islam,” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier. “I don’t believe that Islam’s scared to fight anybody. I think the evidence of that fact would be the fact that he switched opponents and took on ‘Money’ Moicano with no training camp, no preparation, just because it’s the right thing to do, and made sure that the golden rule was followed, which is the show must go forward.
“I don’t believe it to be any more than a rumor. I also think it’s a little bit insulting to be the one to have to ask Islam, ‘Will you fight a ’45 pounder’ considering that would make the third ’45 pounder that Islam was forced to face. And the only thing Islam has ever told us is that he himself would like to change weights. So, if he himself is not allowed to do the one thing that they’re asking him to do three times over, I’m light on that. I don’t think it happens.”
Cormier, a longtime training partner of Makhachev’s, agrees with Sonnen.
“Fighting Alexander Volkanovski, who at the time was No. 1 pound-for-pound – you remember when their first fight happened? It was whoever wins will be considered the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” Cormier said. “Because Islam is (No.) 2, Alex was 1.
“Islam beats him, but it was very close, and then we had this weird (moment) where Alex and Islam were No. 1 pound-for-pound. For a while it was like two No. 1s and Islam was like, ‘Wait, give me what you said I was going to get,’ and then the world then said, ‘Why do you want that? You beat a ’45 pounder.'”
