Chael Sonnen knows exactly where he stands on the ‘Islam Makhachev should fight Ilia Topuria next’ argument. Like the lightweight champ and his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, the verbose UFC analyst feels that ‘La Leyenda’, who has freshly moved up to the shark-infested waters of lightweight after vacating his featherweight title, needs to prove himself at 155lbs before getting a title shot. And when talking about ‘The Eagle’s recent comments on the topic, where he once again said that Topuria won’t be next for Makhachev, and feels Arman Tsarukyan should get the next title shot, ‘Uncle Chael’ couldn’t help but take some shots at the former featherweight champ.

“How do you deny an undefeated world champion? How do you deny that he’s a number one contender? But at the same time, if you’re going to make said undefeated world champion the number one contender, you would do that in the same press release that you stripped him in. Which, by the way, is another part of the story that’s gotten very weird. I realize the official tale is to be told that Ilia vacated the title. I am aware that that’s how we need to tell this as fight fans,” ‘Uncle Chael’ said on his official YouTube channel.

“But if you weren’t told that as fight fans, you just went and looked at what happened, you would have no choice but to realize he was stripped. There was nothing about the way that played out, including the fact that he was no longer champion on Saturday night when the bell rang. Are you aware of that? It might seem like a small detail, but if you look at what happened, he was stripped. Now they’ve all decided to go along to get along and use a word vacated,” he added.

Technically, ‘Uncle Chael’ is correct. Topuria was indeed stripped of the featherweight title by Dana White and Co. as soon as the first bell rang for the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes UFC 314 clash on Saturday. But that was just a technicality. In fact, Topuria had vacated the belt voluntarily, but the rules required him to remain champion either until he made his lightweight debut or the title was up for grabs.

So yeah, the UFC did strip him. But only after he had vacated, and only because that’s how the rules work. And one cannot help but feel for Topuria at the moment. He was en route to becoming the clear featherweight GOAT, and moved up with a promise of fighting for the lightweight title. But that didn’t materialize and he’s in a very precarious position at the moment.

How did Islam Makhachev put Ilia Topuria in a lose-lose position?

For now, it seems like Islam Makhachev is not going to fight Ilia Topuria next. In fact, the lightweight champ is looking to move up to welterweight and fight for a second title himself. According to reports, Islam Makhachev is actually waiting for the result of the upcoming Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena UFC 315 clash in May to decide his next move. Although this report was rubbished by Nurmagomedov and Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz. ‘The Eagle’ clearly stated that the 155lbs kingpin won’t sacrifice brotherhood in a bid for a second belt. This means he won’t be challenging for the 170lbs title if Muhammad remains the champ after May 10.

“Islam wants to fight at 170lbs, but we can’t go up there because Belal is the champion. [He] is very close to us. We can’t exchange our relationships for belts; that’s not the way we are. Those who offer us this [fight] just don’t look at things the way we do. We have different views in this case.” Nurmagomedov told Adam Zubayraev

However, if the Aussie contender beats Muhammad, the lightweight champ may move up and fight for the 170-pound title. “If Della Maddalena was the champion, Islam would fight him for sure. As far as I see it, the UFC are waiting for the event in May, where Belal and Maddalena are set to fight each other.” Nurmagomedov added.

This means Topuria may never get to fight Islam Makhachev in the Octagon, which could well be the biggest what-if clash in the history of the sport. But even if Muhammad keeps the title and Makhachev remains at 155lbs, the road to a Makhachev title fight is still not easy for ‘La Leyenda’.

After all, Topuria will have to fight another killer like Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, or Arman Tsarukyan to earn that title shot. And fighting some of the greatest lightweights in the history of the sport at a heavier weight class than you’re used to is a risky prospect. A loss would not only snap his undefeated streak and knock him out of title contention but also severely dampen the hype around a future fight with Makhachev. What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s take on Ilia Topuria being ‘stripped’ of his title by the UFC?