Ex-UFC champ explains why Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria could be "bigger than" Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall: "Give him his flowers"

Former UFC double champ offered an explanation on why Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria could be a bigger fight than Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall.

UFC lightweight king Makhachev will defend his title against top contender Arman Tsarukyan in a rematch at the main event of UFC 311. Meanwhile, heavyweight kingpin Jones will likely face Tom Aspinall in a title unification bout in 2025.

Topuria dethroned Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 and captured the featherweight title. He then became the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway at UFC 308. 'El Matador' expressed his desire to secure double champ status and fight Makhachev after moving to lightweight.

On his Pound 4 Pound podcast, ex-UFC champion Henry Cejudo stated:

"I personally believe that (Makhachev vs. Topuria) could potentially be bigger than Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall. Competitively, of course, man. It’s not just that – it’s the simple fact that Ilia Topuria has a chance to become champ-champ. The heavyweight division, we’ll just know who’s the real undisputed champion."

He continued:

"But in this position, if Ilia does win, that puts him in a category of, f*ck, you beat the former pound-for-pound (best) in (Alexander) Volkanovski, you’re beating the current pound-for-pound in a guy like Islam Makhachev. Give him his flowers.”

Check out Henry Cejudo's comments about Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria (41:20):

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Islam Makhachev is "not interested in fighting" Ilia Topuria

At the UFC 311 presser, Islam Makhachev revealed that he has no interest in fighting the featherweight champion Ilia Topuria and entertaining his double champ aspirations. However, in a recent interview with MatchTV, Islam gave 'El Matador' some hope by stating:

“We will definitely have some kind of conversation. He constantly talks about me. He probably wants to tell me something. I don’t understand what he wants to tell me. Let’s step outside and talk. He wants to fight? We’ll fight if we need to. In terms of my fighting career, I’m not interested in fighting Topuria at all..."

Check out Islam Makhachev's comments below:

Meanwhile, the Spaniard does not intend to vacate his featherweight title. Topuria's plans to move up a weight class is his personal decision, which is yet to be discussed with the promotion, as he revealed on X.