Diego Lopes weighs in on the pound-for-pound discussion.
The discussion around the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in MMA today has been a hot topic over the last week.
After Ilia Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 317, many, including the UFC official rankings, have put Topuria over Islam Makhachev on that list. Diego Lopes, a former UFC title challenger and current top contender, thinks it’s fair and deserving for Topuria to get that spot.
“I think because of Topuria’s last three wins, that puts him in that sport, right?” Lopes told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “We’re talking about the quality of opponents compared to Islam’s. I’m not trying to take anything away from Islam and his wins over (Dustin) Poirier, Oliveira, Renato Moicano, but speaking about legacy, the people who Topuria beat give him that spot.”
The win over Oliveira tops a three-fight run that many are calling the best in history. Prior to UFC 317, Topuria had knocked out featherweight legends Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski in title fights.
Lopes, who’s a fan of Oliveira, knew a knockout was in the cards at UFC 317, despite his heart wanting a different outcome for his fellow countryman.
“We knew that could happen because of their fighting styles,” Lopes said. “Obviously, everyone who’s a fan of Charles didn’t want it to be this way, but we need to be aware of things. You had to put your fandom aside and acknowledge the quality of technique of Ilia. We knew that a well-placed shot from Ilia would put him to sleep, and that’s exactly what happened.”
It’s not in the immediate future, given Makhachev’s move up to welterweight, but a potential Topuria vs. Makhachev matchup could be on the horizon. If the fight does go down, despite giving Topuria the pound-for-pound best ranking, Lopes still sees the affair as a coin toss.
“The only time we’ve seen Topuria have a tough time was in his debut, which was a close fight, and when he fought that tall kid at 155 who he knocked out,” Lopes said. “After that he’s evolved a lot, he’s evolved a lot. He surprised me a lot because when Charles closed the distance, and you see he has a very good position to get a takedown and in unable to take him down. I was actually next to a friend and when I saw Charles unable to get him down despite having a good position, I looked at my friend and said, ‘Ok, he’s a problem.’
“He’s a problem because he’s a guy that knows much more than just boxing. He can wrestle, and that can give Islam trouble. Also, we make an analysis based on the fights that happened, but once you’re there it can be a completely different fight. It happened to me against Volk. I expected a certain fight, and he was totally different in there. Same thing here. Ilia can focus so much on the wrestling that maybe he gets surprised on the feet, which happened to Volkanovski in the second fight against Islam with the head kick. But it can also happen that Islam worries too much about Topuria’s boxing and underestimate his wrestling. I don’t know. A lot can happen. I think it’s a 50-50 fight.”
