Ilia Topuria cannot keep up with Islam Makhachev on the ground

Javier Mendez expects Ilia Topuria to have a difficult time with Islam Makhachev on the ground.

After becoming the first fighter to defeat Max Holloway at UFC 308, featherweight champion Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) continued to express interest in a fight with lightweight champion Makhachev.

Topuria is confident he can defeat Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC), but American Kickboxing Academy head coach Mendez says it wouldn’t be wise for Topuria to take on Makhachev on the ground.

“That would be an area that I would want to compete against, which is boxing for the sport of boxing,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “That’s not a smart move, you know? And it just so happens that if Ilia decided to submit to Islam, it wouldn’t be a smart move on his part either. So it’s all about strategy and how you go about it, how your fighter goes about it, and what mistakes you can correct during the fight.

“I think that’s more important than anything else. When it comes to an even fight, all that matters is your game plan, your strategy and its implementation. Whether he can join Islam or not, I have to say no. Based on what I see with everyone and Islam. The one person who really worked with him the most was Khabib, and at the end of the day, the more you deal with Islam, the worse it gets.”

Mendez called Topuria the best boxer in all of MMA, and while Makhachev has proven he can hang with the best, he wouldn’t advise him to do so against Topuria.

“I mean, when he easily beat Max in the first round, I said, ‘That’s how you fight MMA,’ and he has a very strong stand-up game,” Mendez said of Topuria. “I would think he’s probably the best boxer in the entire division. He’s really crisp and very spot-on with his boxing, and that’s why you see him use it really, really well. He’s an absolute fighter, but his boxing is, in my opinion, his best attribute of everything he does. He’s impressive, very impressive.”

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s UFC 308 event hub.