Coach Javier Mendez: Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria 'the No. 1 fight to make' in UFC
Makhachev's long-time coach, Javier Mendez, thinks a championship bout between Makhachev and Topuria is the biggest fight the UFC could make today. This wasn't the case a few months ago, as Mendez told MMA Junkie last year that Topuria had ways to go to be at the level of his student. However, since those comments, Topuria defended the UFC featherweight title, by becoming the first to knockout Max Holloway, and then moved up to lightweight to knock out Charles Oliveira and claim the belt, which was vacated by Makhachev himself.
"I think every fan wants to watch this fight," Mendez told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. "It's the No. 1 fight, No. 1. The other one was Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall – that was No. 1. But right now, if Islam wins, the No. 1 fight to make is Topuria vs. Islam."
Makhachev vacated his UFC lightweight title earlier this year, and is expected to challenge UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena in the coming months. No official date or location has been announced by the UFC. Should Makhachev become a two-division UFC champion, just like Topuria did in June, Mendez would love to see a clash between the two – whether it's at 155 or 170 pounds.
"La Leyenda" has been very vocal about wanting to fight Makhachev and has chased him for some time now. He's also made some bold claims, saying he could submit Makhachev, who's one of the most dominant grappler's MMA has ever seen.
Some would be bothered by Topuria's comments, but Mendez very much likes what's going on.
"I like what he's been doing," Mendez said. "He's doing a good job at getting people to want to watch the fight. The more Ilia does, the more people want to see this fight. I like everything he's doing as a fighter. He's very strong and doesn't care about the weight. I think now it's a great fight for us. The first thing Islam wanted was a legacy fight – he wanted the welterweight title. Now if we win the welterweight title, we can go down or he can come up. That's what I say, but if the UFC doesn't like it, it's not happening. But first we need to win."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Coach: Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria 'No. 1 fight to make' in UFC
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