UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping believes Ilia Topuria will eventually get his desired superfight with Islam Makhachev.
UFC featherweight champion Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is eager to move up to challenge lightweight champ Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC), but Makhachev doesn’t appear to be interested.
Bisping dismisses any notion that Makhachev fears the matchup.
“The reality is, Islam’s not scared of anybody,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Of course he’s not. The man is a phenomenal champion, a ridiculous fighter, a historic, legendary fighter, defended the belt four times, more than anybody in history, and he’s got a complete skillset.”
Two of Makhachev’s record-breaking four UFC lightweight title defenses came against former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, which is why he’s not keen on granting Topuria a title shot.
“The reason why he wouldn’t take it is he’s already done that twice, he’s fought Alexander Volkanovski, offered him the opportunity to become a double champ two times in a row,” Bisping said. “So now he’s like, ‘Hold on a minute, I’m not just risking this for nothing.’ Because any time you fight a smaller guy, it’s always a risk. That’s why you don’t get big guys calling out smaller guys, because you look like a p*ssy. If you’re a guy in the street that beats up a smaller dude, you are a bully. That’s not what you do.”
Topuria has been doing his part to promote a potential fight with Makhachev, most recently accusing Dagestani fighters of not dealing with adversity well. Bisping thinks with the way Topuria is poking at Makhachev, he may just get his attention.
“It’s probably a subconscious thing, but Ilia Topuria wants to prove that he can beat Islam, and he also wants to become double champ, and I do think that Ilia Topuria would take that fight,” Bisping said. “Why? Because Ilia is talking mad sh*t. He’s discrediting him, he’s talking bad about him.
“He thinks that he can beat him. Not just him, he’s talking about Dagestani fighters in general, and if there’s one thing that you know about fighters from Dagestan, they are proud, they are patriotic, and they take this sh*t seriously. If Ilia carries on down this line, down this path, down this antagonization route, which I love by the way, then I think we’re going to see this matchup.”
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: How Michael Bisping thinks Ilia Topuria could land Islam Makhachev superfight
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