Ilia Topuria‘s history-making win at UFC 317 not only saw him win a second title but also become the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He toppled Islam Makhachev, who didn’t seem to agree that ‘El Matador’ overtook him, as he claimed that it was part of the “marketing” for a potential showdown between the two in the future. “They did it on purpose for hype, to hype up the fight,” said the former lightweight champion recently.

Well, Islam Makhachev’s former training partner at American Kickboxing Academy, Josh Thomson, appears to agree with the former champion’s views on the P4P rankings. He has no doubts that Dana White and Co. are trying to market his fight against Ilia Topuria by placing the latter in the top spot of the rankings, so that there is something bigger to fight for when they eventually meet inside the Octagon.

However, Josh Thomson appears to disagree with the rest of the cries that Islam Makhachev should not have been removed from the top spot after Ilia Topuria’s title win at UFC 317. The Dagestan native’s former training partner claims that ‘El Matador’ has won more titles than Makhachev, so the No.1 placement is justified. If he wants to regain his P4P top spot, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protégé will just have to beat Jack Della Maddalena and win the welterweight belt.

“It is justified. Ilia Topuria has got two titles. Islam does not. I thought if you’re gonna leapfrog someone, I’ve got two belts. You don’t. That’s the only reason why I can leapfrog you,” Josh Thomson stated on the Weighing In podcast. “If Islam had won the JDM belt before Ilia and then Ilia won the lightweight title, I would have said, ‘No, you should have left Islam where he was.’ [They] should have left him at pound-for-pound… Ilia won the title first, the second title. Now, it’s up to Islam to win his second title. If he wins that second title, I think he’ll leapfrog over Ilia again.”

Well, we’ll soon get to know who the real pound-for-pound No.1 is when Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria fight each other in the not-so-distant future. Meanwhile, these two lightweight stars seem to have been given a warning about another fighter possibly taking over the No. P4P spot. Here’s what we know.

Merab Dvalishvili is touted to overtake Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev

The bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili, has been on a record-breaking run in the UFC. Not only does he have the longest winning streak in bantamweight division history, but he’s also ranked 5th in the UFC all-time most consecutive wins at 13 fights. His friend, teammate, neighbor, and former champion Aljamain Sterling believes that Dvalishvili has rightfully in the race for the top P4P spot with Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev.

“I would say it’s a three-headed race between Ilia, Merab, and Islam. I think if [Dvalishvili] just wins one more, I think he’s [No.1]. I think you can’t deny him, especially if he gets a finish again,” said Aljamain Sterling a few weeks ago. “If you put Merab the same size, pound-for-pound, with any of these guys with his skill set, I think he does the same thing to everybody. You can argue and make the case that he would actually be number one — and should be.”

Well, Islam Makhachev may not mind what Josh Thomson has to say, even though he was his teammate. It’s all about opinions, and the former lightweight champion is not really focused on that as much as he is on winning a second belt. Makhachev has put on some size, and it will be interesting to see how he fares against Jack Della Maddalena. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.