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Former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria recently posted on X that he has started his training camp. The update sparked reactions from Michael Bisping, who believes Topuria is going to fight Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at International Fight Week.
Topuria vacated his featherweight title earlier this year and confirmed he was moving up to lightweight. Makhachev had refused to fight Topuria as he wanted the Georgian-Spaniard to earn his opportunity by beating a top contender in the 155-pound division first.
Speaking about Topuria's potential next opponent, Bisping stated that Topuria will indeed fight Islam Makhachev for the lightweight strap. He said:
"So we don't know who it's going to be, so of course I put a little post out yesterday and I asked you guys who do you think the opponent's going to be and of course the winner according to the poll, 59% of you say Islam Makhachev. All right, there's no surprises there. Second up was Charles Oliveira with 20% of the vote, 16% said Arman Tsarukyan and then 5% of you said somebody else.
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"So let's talk about the possibilities, it's going to be Islam Makhachev. Let's have it right, I don't think Islam Makhachev is going to wait around on the sidelines in the hope that Belal Muhammad is going to lose his fight."
Check out Michael Bisping's comments below (1:57):
Chael Sonnen believes Ilia Topuria lost his leverage after vacating the featherweight championship
As per Chael Sonnen, Ilia Topuria doesn't have enough authority to decide his next opponent after vacating the featherweight title to move up to lightweight. Sonnen doubts whether UFC will book Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria because it is no longer a champion vs. champion fight. He said:
"I just believe that the UFC was gonna match up champion vs. champion, they would've made that match when it was champion vs. champion. Once the weight to where [Topuria] is no longer a champion and then re-emerged with the same idea, that would be a little bit weird."
Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (12:31):
