"King Khabib spoke on this" - UFC veteran gets 100% real on why Ilia Topuria won’t get to fight Islam Makhachev next 

UFC veterans and renowned analysts Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen recently had a lenthy talk about the whole Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria debate. As of recent events, Topuria relinquished his UFC featherweight strap to move up to lightweight with the apparent promise that he'll face the champion next.

However, Makhachev is allegedly refusing to fight 'El Matador' for a myriad of reasons, including because he wants to fight a more natural lightweight next. According to his friend, mentor, and coach, MMA legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Dagestani champion is done fighting featherweights moving up to his weight class.

Chael Sonnen echoed this in his statement during a segment of Good Guy / Bad Guy on ESPN MMA's YouTube channel, saying (7:52):

"It's not going to be Ilia, and we only know that because king Khabib spoke on this. And even though Khabib was kind of just sharing a thought, once it gets printed and it gets tied to, 'Khabib said,' nothing in this world will then break that. "

On Khabib's statement on the Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria fight, Cormier said (8:38):

"When Khabib speaks, right, I always wonder, like, how close it is to his heart? Because, you know, when it's in his heart, nothing's changing it. His mother [said], 'I don't want you to do this without your dad.' This dude literally had 30, 40 million dollars ahead of him. He didn't do it. He respects his mom...He stuck with it. So when these guys are going, 'I don't believe that this guy deserves it,' I don't know that it's just in jest."

Listen to the two here:

---

What did Khabib Nurmagomedov say about why Islam Makhachev refuses to fight Ilia Topuria?

In a recent interview with MMA social media personality Adan Zubayraev, Khabib Nurmagomedov broke silence on what his team and the champion, Islam Makhachev, thinks about fighting Ilia Topuria.

To Makhachev and his mentor, a more fitting next challenger is Arman Tsarukyan, who was supposed to face the champ in a rematch earlier this year but ufc-311-reason-behind-armenian-s-withdrawal-explained" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">had to pull out due to injury.

They want this matchup instead of Ilia Topuria, another 145-pound champion moving up without proving himself in the division yet.

Khabib Nurmagomedov said:

"I don't know what kind of agreements Topuria and the UFC had, but from Islam's side, he already gave two title shots to 145-pound champions. Both times Islam won."

He added:

"Now a third time... Okay, let's imagine Topuria moves up and gets a title shot right away, Islam beats him, then Topuria fights again, he loses again. So basically, he was a nobody at 155. Islam beat a nobody at 155. Because of that, in terms of legacy, for Islam, for his resume, I understand Islam's risks."

Listen to Nurmagomedov here: