Despite being hellbent on a fight against Islam Makhachev, Ilia Topuria has other ideas after his fight at the White House.
This coming June 14, Ilia Topuria hopes to prove why he is the biggest current star in the sport when he takes on Justin Gaethje in the UFC White House main event.
Although ‘The Highlight’ is being heavily backed by the MMA world, he has vowed to ‘change Topuria’s face’ as he finally looks to become an undisputed champion.
Despite that, ‘El Matador’ is hoping to set up several big fights with another win over a UFC legend, which would further add to his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Some big UFC stars will compete in Washington D.C. on June 14, but who will shine the brightest? 🤔
Topuria ‘really wants’ to fight Arman Tsarukyan according to reports
With it being such a high-profile fight, UFC boss Dana White isn’t taking any risks and he has employed a backup for the undisputed title fight.
Not long ago, White announced that Arman Tsarukyan will be the official backup for the main event, potentially getting the chance to step in on late-notice to fight either Topuria or Gaethje for the title.
The majority of fans think that the Armenian star should be fighting Topuria for the undisputed title regardless, but he is still seemingly paying for a few of his UFC mishaps over the last few years.
And although Topuria seemed adamant on moving up to welterweight to finally take on Islam Makhachev after his UFC Freedom 250 fight, reports have suggested he now ‘really wants’ to fight Tsarukyan.
“He really wants to fight Arman,” reporter, Carlos Contreras Legapsi said after an interview with Topuria.
“If there’s one title defense, he’ll want it to be against Arman next. At that point, it would be undeniable. I think if Ilia wins, Arman Tsarukyan will be the next title defense and then we’ll see what happens after that. Because there’s also the ambition of fighting Islam,” he continued.
Does a fight between Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria need to happen? 👀
Let us know in the comments how you would see this super-fight playing out…
Topuria has already begun his war of words on Tsarukyan, recently calling him a ‘man child’ and discrediting his online personality and well-documented family wealth.
Despite having not fought in the UFC since November last year, Tsarukyan has stayed active by competing in wrestling matches with Real American Freestyle Wrestling.
And because of that, he has seen himself become one of the most popular current stars in the sport.
A matchup between Topuria and Tsarukyan is widely regarded as one of the best and most skilled matchups the promotion could currently make, and following June 14, it could become inevitable.
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