UFC 314 may be about Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes, but they were bound to share the spotlight with Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev. Why? For starters, Topuria vs Makhacehv is the fight that fans want to see most. Maybe even more so than Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall. Plus, Volkanovski lost to both of them, via KO, too. So, he was bound to be subject to questions about this potential bout, and so Daniel Cormier did not hold back from asking his thoughts.

Ilia Topuria’s move to the lightweight division has indeed put the current LW champion, Islam Makhachev, on high alert. Given the Spaniard’s undefeated run, it’s pretty likely that he gets a fight against the Dagestani. What happens if it does come to fruition? According to ‘Volk,’ Topuria was “just as dangerous as anybody“, who could drop people if he connected with their chins.

That’s when Daniel Cormier remarked that Makhachev’s sole loss came via a knockout. Volkanovski said, “If anyone can test that chin again, it’s Ilia as well. I think that fight will happen.” And Volkanovski has experienced ‘El Matador’s knockout power at UFC 298. In the second round of their bout, Topuria connected his right hook to Volkanovski’s head and sent him down for good. But Makhachev had also defeated the Australian with a head kick and hammer fists back at UFC 294. And that happened in the first round. 

The UFC 314. headliner further stated, “I mean, it’s simple. If anyone, anyone, looking at it, Ilia is that dangerous. The only way I see even Islam losing is someone catching him. Same way with myself. But who’s got the best chance of doing that? Someone like Ilia. It’s definitely a fun fight. I think, look, if it goes 25 minutes, it’s all Islam. But there’s a good chance Ilia can catch him because he’s, you know, he’s obviously got that very tidy boxing. Them earlier rounds, you know, I think his takedown defense might help him a bit… But them later rounds, you know, what I thought he’d struggle with Max, but he was able to put him out before then, would be the same case with Islam.”

The 36-year-old claimed that the Dagestani champion had to be wary of Topuria’s knockout power. But Cormier was against the idea altogether. He believed that Makhachev should not take up the fight against ‘La Leyenda’. And no, it wasn’t because of the Spaniard’s claims about Makhachev being scared of him. The UFC commentator and analyst has already defended Makhachev against such claims. So why did he think that fighting Topuria would be bad for the Dagestani?

Daniel Cormier stands against the notion of Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev

Taking to YouTube, Cormier shared a video titled, “Islam Makhachev will get crushed if he beats Ilia Topuria.” The former heavyweight champion pointed out that in case Makhachev actually fought Topuria and defeated him, that would put him as a champion with 5 back-to-back title defenses. However, DC believed that the fighting community wouldn’t be too happy about it. He said, “But in that, they’ll say, ‘He’s defended the belt three times against featherweights’. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you do or in how high a regard you hold someone; the fact that, he was a champion in a lower weight class, is what’s going to be pointed to the moment Islam beats him.”

Cormier pointed out that people had a habit of discrediting dominant champions. And with the Dagestani champion defeating the soon-to-be former featherweight champ, people would get yet another reason to diss Makhachev. This is exactly why the Dagestani didn’t want to fight ‘La Leyenda’. He had already proven himself against a former featherweight champion twice. Now, all that Makhachev wants is to move to the welterweight division and fight to become a two-division champion. 

But what are your thoughts on the matchup between Makhachev and Topuria? Do you think it’s the next fight to make at the lightweight division? Who do you think would win if the fight actually materializes? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.