Ex-UFC referee gets brutally honest about Ilia Topuria's bold claims regarding "dream opponent" Khabib Nurmagomedov: "He might have had a chance"

Not long ago, Ilia Topuria revealed that his dream opponent is former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, whom he is certain he would defeat. However, his prediction for a hypothetical fight was quickly shot down by former MMA referee John McCarthy.

The topic was tackled by 'Big John' and former UFC lightweight Josh Thomson on episode #532 of their WEIGHING IN podcast. It's a matchup that will almost certainly never happen, as Nurmagomedov retired four years ago and has resisted calls for him to return against bigger stars than Topuria.

That, however, didn't stop Thomson from bringing up the hypothetical clash.

"You know, I'm gonna go ahead and touch on this. So from MMA Uncensored+, which is, like, they've got a bunch of different sites, all usually called MMA Uncensored. They basically said, 'My dream opponent is Khabib. I would 100% defeat him,' from Ilia Topuria."

McCarthy, one of the most well-respected referees in MMA, who even had a hand in forming the sport's ruleset in North America, believes that the featherweight champion would have had nothing for the unbeaten Dagestani legend.

"If Topuria is talking about the Khabib that started in the UFC, he might have had a chance. Not the Khabib that was 29-0 when he left."

Check out John McCarthy and Josh Thomson predict Ilia Topuria vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov (31:12 and 33:32):

Both Topuria and Nurmagomedov are undefeated phenoms, with the difference being that 'The Eagle' retired unbeaten at 29-0. Topuria, meanwhile, is 16-0 and still an active fighter.

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Ilia Topuria previously called out Islam Makhachev

While both men are stylistically different, no man on the UFC roster bears more similarities to Khabib Nurmagomedov than lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev. Conveniently, Ilia Topuria has eyed a matchup with him as well, believing himself capable of dethroning Makhachev as lightweight champion.

Although many regard the outcome as unlikely, Topuria has made a career of impossibilities, knocking out all-time great featherweights in Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in back-to-back fights. He recently spoke about committing to a lightweight move but seems unwilling to vacate his featherweight title to do so.