{"id":36713,"date":"2026-02-08T18:07:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T18:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Movsar-Evloev-Ilia-Topuria-Will-Lose-Everything-by-Challenging-Islam-Makhachev-200064"},"modified":"2026-02-08T18:07:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T18:07:21","slug":"movsar-evloev-ilia-topuria-will-lose-everything-by-challenging-islam-makhachev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/movsar-evloev-ilia-topuria-will-lose-everything-by-challenging-islam-makhachev\/","title":{"rendered":"Movsar Evloev: Ilia Topuria Will ‘Lose Everything’ by Challenging Islam Makhachev"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Movsar
\nEvloev<\/a> believes it\u2019s not a good idea for Ilia
\nTopuria<\/a> to fight Islam
\nMakhachev<\/a> at welterweight. <\/p>\n

Lightweight champion Topuria has long been eyeing a clash against
\nwelterweight champion Makhachev. Topuria is currently expected to
\nfight interim champion Justin
\nGaethje<\/a> in a title unifier. While Evloev was impressed with
\nGaethje\u2019s interim title win over Paddy
\nPimblett<\/a> last month, he believes \u201cThe Highlight\u201d is highly
\nsusceptible to a knockout against Topuria. However, Evloev believes
\nTopuria stands no chance at welterweight against Makhachev, who is
\nvisibly bigger and on a different level.<\/p>\n

Another Level<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt’s a stupid move,\u201d Evloev told Submission Radio<\/a>. \u201cI think if Ilia does this, he will
\nlose everything. But he has the power to fight at lightweight, and
\nI don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be a good fight for Gaethje if they
\nfight. Gaethje\u2019s fight [against Pimblett] was so good, but he
\nmissed a lot of punches. That\u2019s not a good idea with Ilia. If
\n[Ilia] touches [Justin], he\u2019ll knock him out, but with Islam, it\u2019s
\nnot going to happen. Islam is so huge and on another level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Topuria (17-0) was the featherweight champion when he started
\ncalling for a double champ bid against then-lightweight champion
\nMakhachev. However, Makhachev (28-1) wasn\u2019t willing to grant
\nTopuria a title shot until \u201cEl Matador\u201d had been tested at
\nlightweight. Makhachev eventually vacated the title and moved up to
\nwelterweight, where he dominantly dethroned Jack
\nDella Maddalena<\/a> to win the title this past November. Meanwhile,
\nTopuria defended the featherweight title just once before moving up
\nto lightweight, where he knocked out Charles
\nOliveira<\/a> to win the vacant title last year. <\/p>\n