{"id":5192,"date":"2025-01-19T22:38:07","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T21:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/?p=5192"},"modified":"2025-01-20T22:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T21:45:15","slug":"ilia-topuria-sends-a-bold-challenge-after-islam-makhachevs-swift-victory-at-ufc-311","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/ilia-topuria-sends-a-bold-challenge-after-islam-makhachevs-swift-victory-at-ufc-311\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilia Topuria Sends a Bold Challenge After Islam Makhachev&#8217;s Swift Victory at UFC 311"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">After Islam Makhachev&#8217;s dominant victory over Renato Moicano in the UFC 311 main event, which ended in the first round via a D&#8217;Arce choke submission, fighters quickly reacted, with Ilia Topuria being one of the most notable voices.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This win solidified Makhachev&#8217;s status as the top pound-for-pound fighter and raised questions about who can finally end his incredible 15-fight winning streak.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But Topuria, the reigning featherweight champion, made his intentions clear:<br \/>\n<strong>&#8220;If you want, I can finish you. I can take you out easily. I\u2019ll make it look simple. See you soon.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Islam, if I want to, I can finish you.if I want to, I can knock you out. I&#39;ll make it look easy. Se you soon \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Topuriailia\/status\/1880858384427327883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a swift response, the Georgian-Spanish fighter confirmed his readiness to move up to lightweight to challenge the UFC\u2019s current champion, Islam Makhachev, in a new and thrilling rivalry. His statements have ignited excitement, leaving fans wondering about a potential showdown between the two, which could become one of the most anticipated fights.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Islam Makhachev needs to move up to welterweight and become double champ! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFC311?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#UFC311<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HenryCejudo\/status\/1880858595132371380?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While Makhachev&#8217;s performance in the main event was remarkable, other UFC fighters added to the heat of the discussion regarding future challenges:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><strong>&#8220;Islam Makhachev should move up to welterweight and become a double champion!&#8221;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>&#8220;That D&#8217;Arce choke was incredibly tight!&#8221;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The question now facing Makhachev is whether he will accept Topuria&#8217;s lightweight challenge or reconsider and face welterweight champion Belal Muhammad.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">That darce is so tight<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bullyb170\/status\/1880857986111066407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Either way, the UFC scene remains ablaze, with fans eagerly anticipating who will step up to stop Makhachev\u2019s unstoppable winning streak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Islam Makhachev&#8217;s dominant victory over Renato Moicano in the UFC 311 main event, which ended in the first round via a D&#8217;Arce choke submission, fighters quickly reacted, with Ilia Topuria being one of the most notable voices. This win solidified Makhachev&#8217;s status as the top pound-for-pound fighter and raised questions about who can finally [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,21],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"category-ufc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5192"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5192"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5194,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5192\/revisions\/5194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}