Ilia Topuria's proposed UFC lightweight title shot would be fair, says Alexander Volkanovski

03/20/2025 04:33 AM

Alexander Volkanovski believes it would be perfectly fair for his rival Ilia Topuria to receive a crack at the UFC lightweight championship.

As we know, Ilia Topuria is set to make the move up to the lightweight division. It’s something that has been a long time coming, and after managing to conquer featherweight, he’s ready to try and do the same thing at 155 pounds.

The idea is that his next fight could actually be for the title against reigning champion Islam Makhachev. Of course, some people aren’t entirely convinced that this would be the best course of action, believing he’d have to earn it against a contender first.

Alexander Volkanovski, meanwhile, who has fought Ilia Topuria before, thinks a direct crack at the belt would be perfectly acceptable.

Alexander Volkanovski's view on Ilia Topuria's potential title shot

"Put it this way: If he was trying to hang on to both belts, I don't think that was going to happen," Volkanovski said on the "Believe You Me" podcast. "The fact that he's vacated and the lightweight division's in a position where, I don't know, there's no real clear No. 1, I think it's fair.

"The fact that he vacated, I think that that's fair. If he wanted to hang on and do the double champ thing, I think he needed to do more work. But the fact that he's like, 'Look, I'm going to let this one go, let that division move on. I want to commit to lightweight.' I think that's big. I think that's fair, so I think he sort of deserves it."

Quotes via MMA Junkie

Regardless of whether or not you agree with this sentiment, there’s no denying that Ilia Topuria challenging Islam Makhachev for the belt would easily be one of the biggest fights of the year.