At the UFC Qatar prelims, all eyes were on the Aleksandre Topuria vs Bekzat Almakhan fight. The matchup itself was enough to keep fans locked in on this bantamweight showdown, but many were even more curious to see whether ‘El Conquistador’ could put real pressure on an opponent who managed to knock down Umar Nurmagomedov in his debut. And as the fight played out, Topuria showed that he’s not far behind his two-division champion younger brother.

From the opening bell, Topuria looked sharp with his forward pressure, using his crisp boxing with real precision. There were moments when Almakhan’s powerful leg kicks gave the Georgian-Spaniard a bit of trouble, but aside from that, he was winning most of the exchanges on the feet and also taking control with his wrestling on the ground. But the best moment for Topuria came in the third round when he wobbled Almakhan with two straight right hands, eventually earning a unanimous decision victory.

Just after the fight ended, fans immediately began comparing his performance to Ilia Topuria’s one-sided dominant decision victory over Josh Emmett, pointing out the similarities in their fighting style and their boxing-heavy approach. With that win, Aleksandre Topuria now moves to a two-fight winning streak in the UFC, and it wouldn’t be surprising at all if ‘El Conquistador’ gets a top-15 opponent next.

Because honestly, Aleksandre Topuria already looks more than ready to deal with the bantamweight threats he’s faced so far. Moving forward, the elder Topuria needs to test himself against real contenders like Marcus McGhee, Kyler Phillips, or even Rob Font in his next outing, and he’ll probably get one of them.

But as the Georgian-Spaniard 135er sets himself up for a bright future, he also shared what he wants to see his younger brother Ilia Topuria do once the UFC brings him back early next year.

Aleksandre Toppuria opens up on Ilia Topuria’s future after UFC Qatar victory  

Currently, Ilia Topuria has some tasty options to put his lightweight title on the line. As the UFC looks forward to making their grand entrance into the Paramount+ era next year, El Matador could face Arman Tsarukyan, who just made quick work of Dan Hooker at the UFC Qatar main event. If not, then Islam Makhachev’s three-division glory at the White House is always a possibility. So the Georgian-Spaniard champ definitely has choices, but his elder brother made it clear what he wants to see.

At the UFC Qatar post-fight press conference, The Mac Life’s reporter Oscar Willis asked Aleksandre Topuria, “Outside of your own fight, we have Islam Makhachev here, Paddy Pimblett here, Dan Hooker fighting, and who do you think your brother should fight next?” To this, ‘El Conquistador’ answered, “this is a tough question which weight? Let’s say like that. The perfect scenario would be fight for the third title, but I think that he have to defend the title in lightweight division.”

Which is fair. To face Islam Makhachev for the triple champion glory, Ilia Topuria needs to make one defense against a top lightweight contender, preferably Tsarukyan, to cement that he still has work left in his division. So Aleksandre Topuria does have a point.

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That said, what do you think about the future of both Topuria brothers as they shoot for further glory? Let us know in the comments section below.