Chael Sonnen claims Ilia Topuria missing out on BMF title could derail Islam Makhachev superfight hopes

Chael Sonnen believes Ilia Topuria not being the current UFC BMF champion makes his chances of fighting Islam Makhachev bleaker.

Sonnen says the perfect way to make Makhachev fight Topuria would be if the Georgian-Spaniard had the BMF belt on him. As per the UFC Hall of Famer, when then-featherweight king Topuria knocked out Max Holloway at UFC 308, he should have also become the new BMF champion. However, 'Blessed' did not have his strap on the line.

In a new Instagram clip, Sonnen said:

"You’re having a hard time getting Ilia in there with Islam, and Islam’s entire situation or his entire argument is I’ve done this not just once, I’ve done this twice. It’s everything to gain for you, and I have nothing when the reality is this should be the undisputed champion vs. the BMF champion. That’s what this should be."

He added:

"Ilia Topuria should be right now the BMF champion and it’s not the first time the mistake had been made to walk a BMF champion out there and not making him put his belt up."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below:

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Meanwhile, the promotion recently announced that Holloway will defend his BMF title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 in 'The Diamond's' last fight.

Dustin Poirier wanted to fight Ilia Topuria

With Dustin Poirier’s final dance being announced, he appeared in an interview with MMA Junkie and talked about how he wanted to fight Ilia Topuria or Justin Gaethje. However, the UFC chose Max Holloway.

'The Diamond' said:

"I was asking Hunter [Campbell] and the UFC for Gaethje, because we’re 1-1, I wanted to close out that trilogy. For some reason, they really wanted this fight. So that’s cool because I respect the guy for my last fight."

Poirier added:

"When [Topuria] said he was going to 155, I texted the UFC and said, ‘Hey, what's up let me know what’s going on with this guy now he is a 155’ But they never entertained it, they told me it’s not happening and they wanted Max."

Check out Dustin Poirier's comments below (0:54):