Of the many fighters who have been dubbed to be the ‘next Conor McGregor‘, featherweight champion Ilia Topuria probably has the best claim. The Spanish-Georgian has the same persistent, supreme self-confidence that the Irishman had in his prime and has the performances to back up that almost cocky self-belief. After all, he has defeated two of the greatest featherweights in the history of the sport- Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway- in 2024 alone!

Not to mention ‘El Matador’s mic skills, while not up to ‘Mac’s historically great standards, are pretty good. Especially considering English is not his first (or even second) language. Of course, when people talk about ‘the next Conor McGregor’, what they mean is someone becoming the biggest superstar in the sport, and not about ‘Mac’ as a fighter.

Owing to the Dubliner’s sharp downward trend after 2017,  Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez think that Ilia Topuria has already surpassed Conor McGregor as a fighter. Why? Well because one, the AKA head coach feels Topuria has an excellent ground game, which the pure striker ‘Mac’ never had. Two, because Mendez feels Topuria is a better-skilled all-around striker, too.

“Conor did, you know, he was the man at 145, and you know he did he did unbelievable, you know. So that was probably his [McGregor’s] best weight for showcasing his skills. But I think Topuria like I said, is above him skill-wise because he’s the all-around pitcher. Conor was not a grappler as much, you know. He didn’t take people down, he mostly did the stand-up. But Topuria could do it all,” Mendez said.

Another interesting thing the coach revealed was whether or not his student, Islam Makhachev would be willing to fight Topuria in the near future something the featherweight champ wants desperately.

Javier Mendez doesn’t want Islam Makhachev to fight Topuria at 155lbs

Ilia Topuria has been clear- he wants to fight Islam Makhachev at lightweight for the latter’s 155-pound title. Following in Conor McGregor’s footsteps, he wants to become a concurrent double champ. But Mendez is not very enthusiastic about the idea for very understandable reasons.

The coach feels that Makhachev defeating Topuria, who will be moving up a weight class, will do nothing for the Dagestani’s legacy even if he wins. Instead, Mendez wants the lightweight champ himself to move up and contend for double champion status at a heavier weight class since that would be great for his resume.

“I would think that Islam rather than go with Topuria, … I would think he’d rather have the bigger challenge and go up in weight if possible… But if we’re asking me… I would want him to go another division,” the coach said.

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On the other hand, Mendez made it clear that Makhachev would not refuse to fight Topuria at 155 if the UFC offered him a fight with ‘El Matador’. “But hey you know the bottom line is if the UFC offers it, Islam’s going to take it, you know,” he added. What are your thoughts on Mendez’s take on Topuria and McGregor? How do you see a potential match-up between Topuria and Makhachev going down? Tell us in the comment section below!