Lightweight Michael Chandler doesn’t buy into Ilia Topuria walking at 190 pounds: “I’ve stood next to the man…”

Explosive lightweight Michael Chandler is not putting stock into the fact that Ilia Topuria was too big for the featherweight division. Topuria will have vacated his gold once the main event of UFC 312 begins. In other words, it will happen right after Chandler faces Paddy Pimblett in the co-main event. It only means that ‘La Leyanda’ is now joining ‘Iron Chandler’ and his rivals at 155 pounds.

Topuria’s manager has said he was cutting some 50 pounds to make championship weight at 145 pounds. Hence, Ilia Topuria has eyed this move for a while. Like many others, Michael Chandler believed the Spaniard will be a good addition to the weight class. But, he also takes it that the claim of ballooning up to the 190-pound mark is a bit of an embellishment.

Ilia Topuria bagged his first post-fight bonus in March 2022 with a KO of Jai Herbert at the 155-pound mark. He then moved back to 145 and gradually won the belt at the UFC 298 PPV main event. More recently, he defeated Max Holloway at UFC 308, who had one of the best hydrations at the 155-pound mark just the fight before.

Naturally, there are doubts about Topuria’s move north. Some, however, have presented he really boasts a bigger natural hydration and knuckle power with it. Nevertheless, longtime reigning champ Islam Makhachev and his team consider that Topuria needs some scraps under his belt.

Only then is the 155-pound kingpin willing to give him a consideration of that top contender bar. Michael Chandler, who faces prospect Paddy Pimblett with both dragging hopes of making top-5 battles, agrees with that. He also said Topuria is about the find out the convoluted lightweight pool is a lot different than others.

Daniel Cormier surprised with ‘small guy’ Ilia Topuria’s 155 move

Ilia Topuria is rock-solid in the belief he’ll grab the 155-pound undisputed gold one way or another. His belief is so ironclad that he is already touting his ballot run at lightweight to be ‘legendary'(La Leyenda). Makahchev had been negligent of such a chance happening.

Topuria would be the n^th former/current featherweight he has had a run-up against. A few MMA analysts believe he’s on the right track to goading out a matchup. With Club Climent nudging that he might have the skill ceiling to give Makhachev a run, many believe it to be true. However, UFC commentator Daniel Cormier asks what his driving motivation is.

For one, ‘DC’ billed that Topuria had momentum while at featherweight as the reigning champ. For another, UFC 308 saw that he was on the smaller side of things. The ongoing thought was that Holloway’s standup pace with a 69″ reach and humongous significant strike differentials would be tougher for him. While Topuria had a crisper striking, he still remains smaller for a 155-pounder.

Cormier felt that Topuria, an early bantamweight in his career, is a pretty small lightweight compared to some. He is definitely smaller than Makhachev and Charles Oliveira. Cormier was also surprised Ilia Topuria didn’t retain his 145-pound strap when he was in the hunt for a second UFC belt. The Georgian-Spanish fighter later disclosed emotional weight cuts as a big reason to why he was willing to let go of one if it meant he could go to lightweight.

Related: Ilia Topuria’s ‘secret strength’ exposed by Jorge Masvidal after ‘El Matador’ moves to 155 pounds

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