Over the past few months, there have been several heated rivalries ongoing at the UFC. One of the recent ones is between Ilia Topuria and Team Khabib. Both parties have equally traded disses against each other. However, this rivalry took an interesting turn as several other members of Team Khabib came in to defend their Dagestani brothers.
Recently, the UFC featherweight champion mocked Usman Nurmagomedov from Team Khabib by making allegations against him. It appears that more teammates of Usman have stepped forward to support the Bellator lightweight champion. After ‘El Matador’s’ remarks, teammates of Usman, Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Tagir Ulanbekov, responded by cautioning him about the serious consequences.
Iliya Topuria, why do you need all this? Fly to me, let’s rest on the shores of the Indian ocean.
Abubakar Nurmagomedov via Instagram
Meanwhile, Ulanbekov, a UFC flyweight fighter and close associate of Team Khabib, entered the conversation with a stern tweet. As such, Ulanbekov even issued a warning to the UFC featherweight king. The dispute began when Usman made a pointed remark about the Spaniard, questioning whether ‘El Matador’ had ever been in a street fight. Although Topuria has great respect for Khabib Nurmagomedov, he doesn’t entertain his disciples.
Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Tagir Ulanbekov respond to Ilia Topuria’s recent comments targeted at teammates Islam Makhachev and Usman Nurmagomedov 😳
“Ilia, I advise you to put aside your dividends and find a good dentist. Your dental structure will be affected at the first… pic.twitter.com/w0CXpZHjmK
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 4, 2024
Topuria retaliated strongly, making steroid allegations and reminding the lightweight of his past involvement with banned substances. Additionally, the UFC featherweight king challenged Islam Makhachev. As a result, Topuria expressed his interest in facing the Dagestani champion at 155 lbs. Interestingly, Makhachev is also one of the closest associates of Team Khabib. However, now it remains to be seen whether the community will watch both champions fight.
Is Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria possible?
The current UFC roster is filled with intriguing fighters. The featherweight division, in particular, has some of the biggest names in the MMA community. Over his illustrious UFC career, Ilia Topuria has defeated fighters like Alexander Volkanovski and Josh Emmett. Despite that, Topuria is yet to test himself by fighting some of the big names in the division, including Max Holloway and Movsar Evloev.
A few months ago, UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev was asked about the possibility of fighting Topuria in the future. In response, the Dagestani fighter expressed an interesting perspective. Makhachev stated that El Matador would need to defeat other strong fighters in the division to earn a shot at the lightweight championship.
He (Ilia Topuria) is good, but his next opponent is Max Holloway. If he beats Max and if he beats Movsar Evloev (he can potentially fight for the lightweight championship)… He has a big job to do in his division.
Islam Makhachev via Marca
As of now, Topuria is currently scheduled to face Holloway at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. On the other hand, Makhachev’s last fight was at UFC 302 against Dustin Poirier. Following that, he suffered a hand injury and is currently recovering from it.
