Diego Lopes shares honest prediction for Ilia Topuria's lightweight journey, talks potential fight down the line: "He's very athletic and quite young"
Ilia Topuria could prove to be a success in his return to the lightweight division. This is the stance that featherweight title challenger Diego Lopes has taken in a recent interview with MMA Fighting. The Brazilian faces Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight belt that 'El Matador' recently vacated in pursuit of lightweight glory.
As he gears up for a UFC 314 main event showdown with Volkanovski, Lopes shared his thoughts on how well he believes Topuria can do at 155 pounds. Due to the Spaniard's combination of youth and athleticism, Lopes believes that Topuria is primed for greatness at lightweight.
"He's a guy that can achieve great things in that division. He's very athletic and quite young too. I think he's 27, 28 years old, so I think he has time to do a great run up a division."
However, in the event that Topuria's permanent move to lightweight backfires and he opts to return to featherweight, Lopes would be more than willing to face him, provided he leaves UFC 314 as featherweight champion.
"If he comes back, I hope to be the champion so I can fight him."
Check out Diego Lopes' thoughts on Ilia Topuria's lightweight move:
The Spaniard is now expected to take on lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who he has been poking and prodding on social media for months now. While he has been warned to watch his trash talk by one of the Dagestani star's friends and training partners, Belal Muhammad, it was advice that fell on deaf ears.
Ilia Topuria is no stranger to the lightweight division
While Ilia Topuria is largely known for his legendary exploits at featherweight, where he knocked out all-time great 145-pounders Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in back-to-back title fights, he has actually fought at lightweight before. Though he only did so once, against Jai Herbert.
Check out Ilia Topuria knocking out Jai Herbert:
The first round of their encounter was a frightening one for Topuria, who was dropped by a head kick and nearly finished. Fortunately, he managed to survive the round. Upon regaining his senses in round two, he blasted Herbert with an emphatic combination, knocking him out cold.