Ilia Topuria made quite a statement with his jaw-dropping knockout over Charles Oliveira to become lightweight champion at UFC 317 and even Dustin Poirier admits he was impressed.
Ahead of his retirement fight on Saturday at UFC 318, the former interim title holder heaped high praise on Topuria and his ability to pack so much power behind his punches that he delivered such an emphatic finish. Poirier knows from personal experience how hard it can be to deal with Oliveira after he suffered a submission loss to him in a title fight back in 2021.
“It’s not that I didn’t think he could do it or it would happen, I was just surprised like everybody else,” Poirier said about Topuria during UFC 318 media day. “We’ve never seen Charles put out like that. We’ve seen Charles stopped but we’ve never seen him put out like that.
“Just the streak the guy’s on. I’m a big fan. Any time he’s fighting, I’m watching. I keep saying the same thing but he’s everything that he said he is so far. He’s still young, the sky’s the limit. He’s him.”
As far as what comes next for Topuria, there are quite a few options available to him.
While he’s no longer chasing that goal with his career coming to an end on Saturday, Poirier hopes that Topuria sticks around the division to defend his belt a few times rather than chasing a third title at welterweight.
Topuria has already hinted at his interest in eventually moving to 170 pounds, especially if former UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is able to capture the title in that division with a fight expected against reigning welterweight king Jack Della Maddalena later this year.
Poirier faced Makhachev just this past year so he knows what a daunting task that can be to conquer so he cautions Topuria about packing on the pounds just to chase down the ferocious Russian.
“[Lightweight] has always been so cloudy at the top. Maybe [Justin] Gaethje?” Poirier said about who’s next for Topuria. “I think him going to 170 to fight Islam if Islam wins is a stretch. Islam’s big. I’ve never seen Ilia in person, he seems smaller. Obviously he can knock anyone out. I do think if they fight, Ilia can knock anybody out from 145 to 170 [pounds].
“[Topuria] has the skills, the power, the technique but we’ve just never seen him in there with somebody that big and with that caliber of wrestling. But I think he should defend to [155] title a few times before that’s talked about. We’ll see.”
When it comes to Makhachev moving to welterweight, Poirier doesn’t expect his former foe to struggle much, especially after seeing his size while still competing at 155 pounds.
That said, Poirier isn’t just counting out Della Maddalena from shutting him down and sending Makhachev packing in his attempt to become a two-division champion.
“He’s a big guy, I think he’s going to fill into that weight,” Poirier said about Makhachev. “He’s a really big 155’er. So I think his lifestyle outside of training camp is going to be a little more comfortable and he’ll fill into that weight class no problem. He can be champion there for sure.
“I think the beginning of the fight’s going to tell the story. How well JDM does at getting up, how well JDM does at keeping Islam off of his feet, off of his legs, off of the cage. It’s tough to call that. Because JDM is a big guy, athletic. I’m excited about that.”
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