Ilia Topuria's upcoming move to the UFC lightweight division has caused quite a stir among his future rivals at 155 pounds.
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) recently announced his intention to vacate the UFC featherweight title he won in 2024, citing his stuggles at making the 145 pound limit as one of the leading factors behind the decision.
"La Leyenda" has his heart set on taking on Islam Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) for the UFC lightweight strap, but with the Spanish-Georgian having not yet proven his credentials in his new weight class, many of his lightweight peers have been making themselves heard on the matter.
Former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) engaged in a war of words over the past week with Topuria, labelling him 'disrespectful' during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on Wednesday, and now Michael Chandler has chimed in on the subject.
Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC), who is getting ready to fight Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at UFC 314 in a couple of weeks, gave his thoughts on Topuria's switch to the lightweight division in an interview with The Schmo this week.
"Is Ilia the most deserving of it? It's hard to say because a guy coming up from a weight class, I mean, you know, he claims he's up at 190 pounds outside of training camp", shrugged the former Bellator champion.
"I don't know if that's necessarily true. I don't think he's as big as some of us lightweights. But the dude is absolutely skilled, and more importantly, he believes in himself. So I don't know. I mean, I could go either way. I could say you could put him up against a (Mateusz) Gamrot or an Arman (Tsarukyan), who's not a great striker, more of a grappler. Or you could put him up against a (Justin) Gaethje and Oliveira, who's got great striking. Or you just throw him in the Islam. Who knows?".
