People have been talking about Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev, and who would win that fight. While Islam Makhachev is focused on his welterweight dreams, Khabib Nurmagomedov recently made a surprising claim. The UFC legend claims that before fighting his protege, Topuria needs to take care of another massive threat in the lightweight division, Arman Tsarukyan, who gave Makhachev one of the toughest challenges ever.

Ilia Topuria appears to have no respect for Arman Tsarukyan, who’s the #1 contender for his lightweight title. The Georgian-Spanish star is hesitant to fight his Armenian counterpart due to issues with relying on ‘Ahalkalakets’ to be there if the fight takes place. Instead, Topuria wants to introduce new faces to the 155lbs division, which seems to be a way to avoid Tsarukyan, as Khabib Nurmagomedov believes things could get bad for ‘El Matador’ if he ever fought him.

As noted by Topuria’s camp, the champion even suggested he’d rather vacate the belt than grant a title shot to Tsarukyan, citing the Armenian’s past withdrawal from a title fight as a breach of trust.

When we compare Ilia Topuria’s performance against Charles Oliveira to Arman Tsarukyan’s performance against the Brazilian legend, the lightweight champion only needed the first round to beat his rival. Meanwhile, the Armenian star went the entire five rounds and even found himself getting submitted at UFC 300. Despite that, Khabib Nurmagomedov claims Tsarukyan will definitely beat Topuria in a fight.

Khabib Nurmagomedov backs Arman Tsarukyan against Ilia Topuria

Arman Tsarukyan may be a wrestling-heavy fighter, but Khabib Nurmagomedov has also hailed his standup game. Claiming that he’s got good distance management against strikers, ‘The Eagle’ believes that Ilia Topuria doesn’t stand a chance against the Armenian fighter. That is because Tsarukyan has levelled up as a fighter, according to Khabib, but he does believe that the lightweight champion will put up a tough challenge.

“I don’t see Topuria having a chance. Arman fights too well at range against strikers. He keeps his distance well, works better with his kicks. And now, Arman has improved a lot. He has footage that he can study and analyze,” Khabib Nurmagomedov told Kamil Gadzhiev in an interview in Russian. “If they fought three years ago, maybe he wouldn’t have been as cautious. But now, you can clearly see what dangers Topuria brings. I believe right now, the best lightweight is Tsarukyan.”

Moreover, Khabib Nurmagomedov, that Arman Tsarukyan’s fighting style will be a hard code to crack for Ilia Topuria. That’s especially because of ‘Ahalkalakets’s versatility. “[He will win] due to his MMA style, not only wrestling. Arman can take people down; he has good elbows on the ground. Very good elbows. He can grapple, submit, take the back,” Nurmagomedov added.

Moreover, Khabib Nurmagomedov also claims there is another advantage that Arman Tsarukyan has over Ilia Topuria. And if you’ve guessed that already, yes, it is his stature and size. Here’s what the 29-0 Hall of Famer had to say.

Tsarukyan has a physical advantage over Topuria

When it comes to fighting, Khabib Nurmagomedov praised Arman Tsarujyan for his fight IQ. He is certain that the Armenian star will not go all guns blazing against Ilia Topuria and instead, use a measured approach to the fight. But besides his fighting intelligence, ‘The Eagle’ also claims that Tsarukyan will be the heavier fighter between him and Topuria on the night of the fight.

“He won’t [go and strike with Topuria]. Here’s already enough footage to study. I’d say it’s 80-20 in Arman’s favor. His wrestling, his pressure, his physicality, it all matters. He’s taller by almost 10 centimeters, if I’m not mistaken,” Khabib Nurmagomedov added. “He’s heavier, and on fight night, he’ll be the bigger man. And of course, wrestling always plays a huge role. Especially in fights like this.”

Well, Arman Tsarukyan is looking to return to action in October or November, and as for Ilia Topuria, he may not be fighting this year since we don’t have any updates about his first lightweight title defense. It will be interesting to see how their paths shape up and if they ever butt heads inside the Octagon in the future. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.