How good is Ilia Topuria, really? That’s the question fans have been asking since ‘El Matador’ rose to the pinnacle of this sport. At first, he defeated two legends—Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway—back-to-back in the featherweight division. Then the Georgian-Spaniard worked the same magic in the lightweight division, by brutally knocking out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 and claiming the lightweight belt. All while maintaining an undefeated record. And now, his stats are getting even wilder after this weekend’s UFC Rio. 

At the Farmasi Arena, ‘Do Bronxs’, now also known as ‘Predador’, proved he’s far from “washed” by dominantly submitting Mateusz Gamrot in front of his home crowd. Surprisingly, he’s not the only one to bounce back after a loss to Ilia Topuria. In fact, most of the reigning lightweight champion’s past opponents, whom he has defeated, have managed to win at least one fight afterward. 

Ilia Topuria’s resume gets stronger after Charles Oliveira’s UFC Rio victory

Prominent MMA Journalist, Ariel Helwani, revealed on his show, “Speaking of Ilia, there’s another really interesting thing that I saw, every person who fights Ilia—everyone you know, always wonders how people. Or, whether these people are over the hill, past their prime, washed up—is the win as impressive as we think it is? It seems like every single person that he fights, in the next fight, they actually look really good.  Charles wins, Max wins, Volkanovski wins. I think Emmett won, too, right? Emmett beat Bryce Mitchell. I think Bryce Mitchell won, too right? Bryce beat Dan Ige! I think that’s pretty interesting.  

That’s a keen observation by Helwani. There has been an ongoing debate on whether Topuria actually defeats opponents past their prime. If we follow what the veteran analyst points out, other than Max Holloway—who defeated the legendary Dustin Poirier in his retirement fight at UFC 318—every other fighter has secured significant wins against rising contenders. 

For instance, Alexander Volkanovski defeated a hot and dynamic featherweight contender, Diego Lopes, at UFC 314. Likewise, Charles Oliveira beat an elite grappler like Mateusz Gamrot at the UFC Rio headliner, proving the Georgian-Spaniard defeated legendary fighters who were still in their prime. And now, it seems there’s another legendary challenge coming his way. 

After Topuria claimed the lightweight division’s throne, there was some confusion about who would challenge him next. Paddy Pimblett and Arman Tsarukyan emerged as the hottest names in the mix. However, one 155 lbs contender believes the promotion might actually turn its attention to Justin Gaethje next. 

‘El Matador’ might face Justin Gaethje next  

A few days ago, rumors began circulating on social media that Ilia Topuria would defend his 155 lbs gold against Justin Gaethje at the start of next year’s Paramount deal. The popular Instagram account ‘Westtildeath’ also posted about it on their handle, generating massive buzz among fans. But, there wasn’t any official confirmation or even a leak to back up the news—until Beneil Dariush stepped in to shed some light on the situation. 

During an interview with Submission Radio, ‘Benny’ said, “I’m hearing rumors of Justin Gaethje, to be honest, getting the title shot. I don’t know how true that is; we’ll see how that goes. That kind of leaves Paddy out. So, I don’t know what’s next, but I think the people who are most deserving would be the winner of [Tsarukyan vs. Hooker].” 

Well, that’s definitely an interesting development in the lightweight division. For those unaware, Justin Gaethje made it clear that he would only fight for the title after defeating Rafael Fiziev in their rematch at UFC 313. If not, ‘The Highlight’ planned to hang up his gloves without a proper send-off fight. Initially, the possibility of this matchup faced some skepticism, but now it seems Dana White might actually consider this stellar fight to kick off next year.

That said, do you believe we’ll see Gaethje vs. Topuria headline the start of the Paramount+ CBS deal? Or will another blockbuster fight steal the spotlight? Let us know in the comments section below.