UFC 308 Mailbag: How long can Ilia Topuria reign over the featherweight division?

UFC 308 took place this past Saturday, with both Ilia Topuria and Khamzat Chimaev delivering incredible performances. In the co-main event, Chimaev literally broke Robert Whittaker’s face en route to a first-round submission, and then in the main event Topuria did what some believed to be impossible: he knocked out Max Holloway.

So with some big, big things going down last weekend, let’s answer some of your questions about it all.

How long can Ilia Topuria reign?

“Of all the current fighters on the UFC roster, is there anybody you’re more confident will be champion on Jan. 1, 2027 than Topuria?

Guys, I don’t know if I mentioned this but

ILIA TOPURIA FREAKING KILLED MAX HOLLOWAY! THE UNBREAKABLE CHIN GOT BROKEN!! WHAT IS THE LIMIT TO WHAT HE CAN KNOCK OUT?!?! CAN TOPURIA DEMOLISH A BUILDING WITH HIS BARE HANDS?!?! SHOULD WE FIND OUT?!

Sorry, just had to get that out.

Look, I understand the arguments trying to temper expectations for Topuria right now: both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway probably aren’t in their primes anymore. I don’t care. Felling Holloway with the relative ease Topuria had is an astonishing accomplishment in the history of this sport. And he’s only 27 years old!

The Topuria we saw on Saturday is one of the best fighters on Earth (if not the best) and that’s the worst version of him we’re going to see for the next five years. Think about that. He demolished the two men who have reigned over this division the past seven years and he did it without issue. Dude, it’s curtains for the rest of the featherweights out there right now. I’d tell you to change weight classes but lightweight and Islam Makhachev ain’t any better.

Now, there’s always the possibility that someone comes along out of relatively nowhere. When Holloway took the title he was 25 and it looked like we were in a for a long reign, and then Volkanovski ascended. Maybe something similar happens here, but I doubt it. The only way Topuria is dropping the 145-pound title in the next four years is if he moves up a weight class.

Topuria’s performance

“You’ve said before you thought Volk was the best fighter you’ve ever seen, after tonight how high is Ilia on that list? Is he the most talented featherweight ever? (Young Aldo gives him a run for that if just comparing how much better than their competition)”

Well, what I said was the Volkanovski that beat Max Holloway in their third fight might be the best fighter I’ve ever seen. And that’s not to say Volk is the GOAT or anything like that, more to point out that Volk on that night delivered a flawless performance against an all-time great fighter, which is extremely rare.

And for as great as Topuria was and is, his win on Saturday is not the same. While it was also an exceptional performance and had a more definitive ending, Topuria’s win was not flawless. Many people had Holloway winning the first two rounds (and I don’t blame them, though I didn’t score it that way). Though he lost the war, Max won many of the battles on Saturday night. Conversely, against Volkanovski in their trilogy bout, Max lost every battle and lost the war (also, I’d argue that was a better version of Max but that’s a separate issue).

To me, Volk’s third win over Holloway was an all-time great at the absolute peak of his powers. Topuria’s win at UFC 308 was an ascending talent teasing what is possible. It’s crazy to think but I’m expecting much better performances from him in the future.

So in those terms, Topuria is pretty far down the list. But that will come with time and tenure atop the sport. But for now, that performance removed all debate about Fighter of the Year for me (Topuria wins in a landslide, his two wins have a case for being the best two-win stretch of any MMA career ever) and legitimately inserted him into the pound-for-pound discussion. That should be enough for one night’s work.

Alexander Volkanovski, title challenger

“Should Volk need to pick up a win before fighting Topuria again?

“I would be usually more on board with a long-reigning champ getting a rematch, but in Volk’s case the context is a little different because of the two Islam losses that preceded him losing the belt.”

He absolutely should, but that’s not what’s happening.

I’ve made my thoughts on this point known plenty, but I hate immediate rematches. In most instances, the immediate rematch simply leads to the person who lost losing again, in worse fashion. The rest of the time, it’s basically a free mulligan for the loser and minimizes the significance of the first fight. To me, the only time there should ever be an immediate rematch in MMA is to resolve a draw or no-contest, or a trilogy fight where they split the first two encounters. Any other time, go back and get one win at least.

So of course I think Volkanovski should fight again before getting another shot at Topuria. Personally, I think the best idea is to have Volk fight Diego Lopes when the UFC goes back to Australia for UFC 312. Heck, make it for an interim belt, who cares? Then the winner gets Topuria and that gives the UFC enough time to figure the logistics for Topuria to defend his title against the winner in Spain, sometime next summer.

But that’s not how the sport works and I’ve had to make my peace with it. Volkanovski is going to get his rematch and I gotta be honest, it’s going to be a hard watch for you Volk fans. He’s going to get thumped again.

Lightweight?

“Once Ilia retires Volk what’s next? Can he really challenge the grappling prowess of Islam or Armen at 155?”

There’s already a ton of this sentiment out there with people calling to see Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev and all I have to say to that is No. No no no no no no.

Yes, I think Topuria will beat anyone he fights at featherweight. But me thinking it and it happening are two very different things. Plenty of people thought Max would beat Topuria. If we just dismissed title challengers because of public sentiment, then why would we even have fights in the first place? We could just do internet polls instead.

Being a champion means defending your title and giving others the same chance you yourself were given: their day in court to prove they’re the best in the world. We have GOT to stop booking champ vs. champ fights when both champions have more than enough work to do.

Diego Lopes deserves a title shot. The winner of Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling will deserve a title shot. And by the time Topuria defends those, maybe Arnold Allen will have a few wins and deserve a title shot. The man is 27. Let’s see him actually clean out a division before we start calling for a move up.

(Also, if Makhachev did that, three of his four/five title defenses would be against guys from the weight class beneath him. I know Jon Jones built a GOAT case doing that, but I want more from Makhachev).

Max Holloway

“Do you think a permanent move up to lightweight is the best thing for Max now? The weight cut that’s not getting easier, all the damage he took over the years plus this brutal career changing KO looks like the combination of everything you don’t want to do anymore.”

I thought Max should’ve moved up after the third Volkanovski fight. Not because he can’t compete (obviously he could) but because he’d fought most of the dudes at 145 and lightweight offered more fun matchups. I still believe that to be the case today, though now there’s a caveat.

Once a chin gets cracked, it’s never the same. Moving up to lightweight may be good for Holloway in lessening the weight cut, but it also puts him with an entirely different tier of hitter. Featherweight is a great weight class, but only Topuria and Josh Emmett are the real big punchers there. Aside from lightweights in general having more power, the division also houses Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, Michael Chandler and others who all clobber fools.

I’m not saying Max can’t compete up at lightweight, he can. I’m just saying with his chin no longer invulnerable, there is more risk with the move up now than I’d have thought a couple years ago.

Khamzat Chimaev

“Am I insane, I would be confident Chimaev could be champion in WW, MW and LHW! I am torn on if I think he could challenge Tom Aspinall at heavyweight. Is that ridiculous or fair?”

A little of column A, a little of column B.

After what he just did to Robert Whittaker on Saturday, it’s obviously not insane to think Chimaev can become middleweight champion. In fact he’s already the betting favorite to beat Dricus du Plessis should they fight.

I can also see the case for Chimaev at light heavyweight. We all love Alex Pereira but it’s not a big stretch to imagine Chimaev landing a low single-leg and the dummying the champion on the ground.

It’s the other two that give me pause. Long ago I was convinced Chimaev would become the welterweight champion, but those days are gone. After his catastrophic weight fiasco at UFC 279, the UFC probably won’t ever let him try to go down to 170 again and with good reason. Did you see him on the scale for UFC 308? The unsung MVP of this entire event was the weigh-in official who blitzed through Chimaev’s time on the scale. Man ain’t making 170 again.

And yeah, I like Chimaev but Tom Aspinall rinses him. Forty pounds is a lot of pounds and that’s roughly the edge he has on Chimaev in weight. Plus Chimaev uses plenty of strong man tactics that just won’t fly against a physical presence of that size.

Title challenger?

“I think Chimaev has passed Strickland for the title shot- is the concern that he apparently can’t stay healthy the only potential obstacle to DDP-Chimaev?”

You are not the only one, Zak. In fact, the only person who doesn’t think that might be Sean Strickland himself who is out here tweeting like a man who knows deep down he lost his claim to the title shot.

Look, I know there are concerns with Chimaev staying healthy and his rumored (though never confirmed) travel ban, but this isn’t hard: he’s got next. He’s massively popular and just BROKE ROBERT WHITTAKER’S FREAKING FACE! Strickland having a deeply uninspiring win over Paulo Costa (who has zero wins over people currently employed by the UFC) just ain’t gonna cut it.

DDP vs. Chimaev is the only fight to make and I can’t wait for it.

Robert Whittaker

“Where does the imagery of Whitaker’s injury rank in your lexicon of graphic MMA injuries over the years?”

Have you seen it? This is nightmare fuel!

There are plenty of terrible injuries that happen in MMA. Legs shatter, arms get broken, skulls fracture, and noses get disfigured on a regular basis. Heck, Irene Aldana set a new standard for horrific cuts two months ago! But there’s something about teeth that just gets me. Whittaker looked like he had dentures that fell out into his mouth. It was disgusting. Credit to “Bobby Knuckles” who is handling this much better than I ever would because that image is still haunting me several days later.

So to answer your question, this is right at the top. Never in this history of my fandom have I ever thought “No, I do not want to be an Ultimate Fighter” more than on Saturday night.

Thanks for reading, and thank you for everyone who sent in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck, because you can send your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I will answer my favorite ones! Doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.