Off the again of his spectacular win at UFC 311, Islam Makhachev has opened as a major betting favourite to land a victory over unbeaten featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria — with the 2 going nearer to a possible tremendous combat between two dominant titleholders.
Makhachev, who headlined UFC 311 over the course of final weekend, managed to land his fourth consecutive light-weight title protection, stopping short-notice substitute, Renato Moicano in a dominant first spherical D’Arce choke submission win on only a day’s discover.
As for Georgian-Spaniard, Topuria, the unbeaten featherweight kingpin has been sidelined since final October, stopping former champion and present symbolic BMF champion, Max Holloway with a shocking third-round knockout — changing into the primary to complete the Hawaiian with strikes in skilled blended martial arts.
Islam Makhachev opens as huge betting favourite to beat Ilia Topuria after UFC 311
And providing Makhachev an enormous warning following his UFC 311 victory over Moicano, the markets and bookies have positioned featherweight finest, Topuria as a major betting underdog at +300 to beat pound-for-pound primary, Makhachev who’s a -400 betting favourite, with Lightning Storm on line casino recreation providing punters and bettors the prospect to win huge earlier than a possible combat in addition.
Making gentle work of Brasilia native, Moicano final weekend at UFC 311, Islam Makhachev was supplied a stark warning by unbeaten featherweight titleholder, Topuria — who claimed he might end Russian kingpin, Islam Makhachev with strikes in the event that they ever meet on the light-weight restrict.
“Islam, if I want to, I can finish you,” Ilia Topuria posted on his official X account following Islam Makhachev’s submission win at UFC 311. “If I want to, I can knock you out. I’ll make it look easy. See you soon.”
Islam, if I need to, I can end you.if I need to, I can knock you out. I will make it look straightforward. Se you quickly 😉
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) January 19, 2025
Himself but to e book a return to motion since his stoppage win over Holloway, Topuria has been closely linked with a featherweight title re-run with common-foe, Alexander Volkanovski — doubtlessly as quickly as UFC 314 in a visit to Florida in April of this yr.
Nonetheless, earlier than the flip of the yr, Topuria hinted at an impending transfer to the light-weight division — as a consequence of his drastic weight minimize to 145lbs, figuring out potential showdowns with the likes of Islam Makhachev and Brazilian favourite, former champion, Charles Oliveira.
“Yeah, the real thing, I think, is he (Ilia Topuria) hates to cut weight,” Jorge Climent advised Submission Radio. “He does it a lot of times, and it’s very hard every time we do it. He doesn’t want to do this anymore, and that’s why he wants to go up to the next weight class, you know, because he thinks his normal weight is in that weight class.”
“In the beginning, Ilia fighting 61 kilos (bantamweight) and he’s young,” Climent mentioned. “And your body is changing. When you’re 20, you have a body. When you’re 25, you have another. And when you are 30, you have another. Always your muscular production (grows) and your weight is difficult to cut. We decided because he wants to feel better. Sometimes I see Ilia in 85 kilos, and he needs to be 66. We do a very big weight cut.”
