"Alex had four title defenses" - Ex-UFC star scoffs at Ilia Topuria's plans of moving up to fight Islam Makhachev for 'champ champ' status

Ilia Topuria's plans to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight strap after his first featherweight title defense has irked a former UFC women's featherweight title challenger.

Reacting to the newly minted featherweight champion stating his intentions of chasing double champion status to Spanish media, ex-UFC star Megan Anderson scoffed at the idea. She suggested that the Georgian-born Spaniard should first clear out his own division.

In a recent post on X, Anderson wrote:

"let's clear out the division before making a champ champ fight. 🤔 Alex [Volkanovski] had four title defenses before going up to fight Islam... also, Islam needs to defend his 155 [pound] belt against some lightweights, too. He's only fought Volk for his title defenses so far."

At UFC 298, Topuria shocked the world by capturing the featherweight title with a stunning second-round KO over arguably the greatest of all time in the division, Alexander Volkanovski.

Following that, in an interview with Eurosport (Espanol), 'El Matador' stated his intention to face the Dagestani after his next fight:

"The three rivals that I would most like in the next fight are Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, or Sean O'Malley. I want to fight again before the end of the year, and then the next target would be Islam Makhachev. That fight would be the one that would bring me closest to number one in the pound-for-pound ranking. I see myself as a double champion." [Translated via Google Translate]

Topuria (15-0) is undefeated in MMA and is one of the hardest hitters at 145 pounds.

Meanwhile, Anderson (11-5) produced mixed results during her tenure with the UFC, with a promotional record of 3-3. She holds wins against the likes of Cat Zingano and Norma Dumont.

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Ilia Topuria says featherweight "sucks"

Ilia Topuria believes there is no credible challenger for him in the featherweight division.

During a backstage interview with Megan Olivi following his statement win over Alexander Volkanovski, 'El Matador' opined that the 145-pound division is in dire need of new fighters:

"Right now, [there is] nobody [to challenge me in the division] . The division really sucks. We need new challengers, you know. We need a couple more fights in the division. We'll see what is going to happen in the future, and hopefully, we are going to have some clear challengers, but right now, there is nobody."

Catch Ilia Topuria's comments below (2:23):