“He’s scared. Of course, he’s scared. Of course,” Ilia Topuria told ‘Marca’ when asked why Islam Makhachev didn’t want to fight him. However, UFC analysts Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier strongly disagree. To understand what the Hall of Famer duo thinks of this, we will let Khabib Nurmagomedov’s iconic phrase ring in your ears: “Number one bu—-it.”

‘The Bad Guy’ found the notion that the Dagestani powerhouse is afraid of Topuria downright insulting to the lightweight champion. In fact, the outspoken analyst was so surprised by the claim that he initially couldn’t believe the soon-to-be-former featherweight champ had even said it.

“My first sense is that’s fake news!” Sonnen told ‘DC’ on their ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ show on ESPN MMA. “And it’s a real insult to Islam. I don’t believe that Islam’s scared to fight anybody and I think the evidence of that fact would be the fact that he switched opponents, and took on ‘Money Moicano’ with no training camp, no preparation, just because it’s the right thing to do; and made sure that the golden rule was followed which is, the show must go forward. I don’t believe it to be any more than a rumor. Moreover, I also think it’s a little bit insult.”

Topuria, of course, has announced the vacation of his title and his move to lightweight, probably for good. And the UFC world was hoping to see Topuria take on Makhachev for the lightweight gold. However, the Dagestani has his reservations. Not out of fear of course! But citing Topuria’s legitimacy to challenge for gold at another weight class. Even in the modern UFC scenario, changing weight classes is not a trivial thing.

So the champ wants to be sure that Topuria could compete with the bigger size, more power, and heavier hands of 155-pounders first, before giving him a title fight. Moreover, the Dagestani wants Topuria to earn his way to the belt. This was evident when Russian media outlet TASS reported: “Islam has not agreed to this fight. He believes Topuria needs to earn a title shot at 155 first.”

But it seems ‘El Matador’ thinks that the best way to convince the champ is to hurt his ego and question his honor. Being too scared to fight someone is one of the worst things you can accuse a fighter of. This is something ‘Uncle Chael’ pointed out but he wasn’t done.

Why does Chael Sonnen agree with Islam Makhachev’s decision to not fight Ilia Topuria?

Dana White was so impressed with something Islam Makhachev told him that he has the quote on the walls of the UFC HQ. “What does this title represent? It means you are the best in the world and if you are the best in the world, it doesn’t matter who’s going to be standing across from you. What do I say? No? NEVER. Let’s do this!” Makhachev wrote in a text to Dana White.

For context, the Dagestani was set to fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 294 in October 2023. However, the Brazilian cut his eye in camp and was forced to pull out ten days from the Abu Dhabi card. So Dana White asked Alexander Volkanovski to step in. When the UFC CEO asked Makhachev if he would be okay with re-matching ‘Volk’ on short notice, Makhachev sent White the aforementioned text. At the time, the Aussie was the featherweight champ and pound-for-pound #1 fighter in the UFC.

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However, with Makhachev reportedly turning down a Topuria fight, many fans have started calling him a hypocrite. Moreover, they have started to cite this very text. However, Chael Sonnen thinks there is a good reason behind Makhachev’s reluctance to fight Topuria.

“It’s insulting to be the one to have to ask Islam will you fight a ’45 pounder considering that would make the third ’45 pounder that Islam was forced to face. And the only thing Islam has ever told us is that he himself would like to change weights so if he himself is not allowed to do the one thing that they’re asking him to do three times over?” An exasperated Sonnen asked Cormier.

Indeed, out of his record-breaking four lightweight title defenses, only two have been against lightweights. Two came against Alexander Volkanovski, who lost to the lightweight champ at UFC 284 and UFC 294. This is why ‘Uncle Chael’ thinks Makhachev is justified in turning down a Topuria clash. And as stated, it has nothing to do with the Dagestani being scared of ‘El Matador’. What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s take on Islam Makhachev being ‘scared’ to fight Ilia Topuria?