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Islam Makhachev's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently took shots at Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira fighting for the lightweight championship. Calling the vacant title a "Burger King belt," the 47-year-old claimed Makhachev to be the real champion of the 155-pound division.
Makhachev has recently vacated his lightweight title in pursuit of beating Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight gold. Although fans wanted to see 'El Matador' fight the former champ, Oliveira has stepped in to face the Georgian-Spanish fighter at UFC 317.
With many criticizing Makhachev for allegedly ducking Topuria and moving up to welterweight, Abdelaziz issued a message to those, stating:
"I wasn’t really gonna say much but I see people just don’t want to move on. [Islam Makhachev] is always gonna be the Lightweight Champion, these two guys [Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira] who are fighting, they are fighting for the Burger King belt. I wish people would be nice to each other but hey it is what it is."
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Check out Ali Abdelaziz's comments below:
Ilia Topuria gets honest about Islam Makhachev's move to welterweight:
After becoming the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway, Ilia Topuria shocked fans by vacating his featherweight belt to pursue lightweight gold. Since last October, 'El Matador' has campaigned for a fight against then-champion Islam Makhachev.
However, Dana White announced that the Georgian-Spaniard will face Charles Oliveira instead. When Topuria was asked about his prediction for Makhachev's fight against Jack Della Maddalena, he said this, in Spanish:
"I think Islam, right now, he's at a point where mentally, I think he's broken. Because I don't think it's a good thing for you to know deep down that you've left a division out of fear. There's no other explanation. Imagine if I had left featherweight with a Max Holloway still to beat at the weight class, or some truly deserving contender sweeping the entire division and everyone shouting his name."
Check out Ilia Topuria's comments below:
