UFC's Cory Sandhagen: Ilia Topuria way too dangerous of a striker for Islam Makhachev
UFC's Cory Sandhagen: Ilia Topuria way too dangerous of a striker for Islam Makhachev
Cory Sandhagen thinks Ilia Topuria would have been too much for Islam Makhachev if they fought.
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) vacated his UFC featherweight title for a move up to lightweight to challenge Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) but won't get his desired fight after Makhachev relinquished his belt to go to welterweight.
With the power in Topuria's hands, which resulted in back-to-back knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, Sandhagen sees Makhachev likely having suffered the same fate.
"I'm going to actually go against what most people say, and I honestly think Ilia would win that fight," Sandhagen said on the "Overdogs Podcast." "It's a hot take, but I do. I think his stature is going to be hard to take down for Islam, and I think if those two are standing, I just think that Ilia is a way, way dangerous guy standing, and I just really can't see Islam hurting him because his guard is real good. I think Ilia will win that one."
Makhachev will now challenge newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena – a fight which doesn't peak Sandhagen's interest.
"I have watched a bunch of JDM's fights, and I know that he's real good, but I don't really want to see JDM fight Islam honestly," Sandhagen said. "I don't really like when someone wins a belt and then they fight a guy from the lower weight class. I kind of want to watch JDM fight at 170 for a bit before too much of that stuff starts happening. I really want to watch Ilia and Islam fight, and I really want to watch Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones fight."
As for Topuria, the former champion will still get his opportunity to claim a second belt when he meets Charles Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) for the vacant 155-pound title in the UFC 317 main event on June 28 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
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