UFC legend reveals Ilia Topuria’s next fight: “That’s 100% the plan”

Arman Tsarukyan has spent weeks goading Ilia Topuria on social media in hopes of landing a shot at the lightweight title. The Spanish-Georgian champion, however, seems entirely uninterested in the matchup, and all signs point to either Paddy Pimblett or Justin Gaethje as the next in line for a title shot.

Even so, former UFC fighter and current American media commentator Chael Sonnen has claimed that Topuria’s first title defense will, in fact, be against Tsarukyan, during a conversation with Mike Bohn on MMA Junkie. Sonnen made his UFC debut in 2005 and returned to the promotion in 2009 after a nearly three-year hiatus, staying until 2013. He retired from professional MMA in 2019 with a 29-15-1 record and is now one of the most prominent voices in the company’s U.S. coverage.

“Arman vs Ilia is the plan”

Tsarukyan’s name had been all but ruled out by fans, largely due to Topuria’s own dismissive stance – he even went so far as to say he’d vacate the belt before granting the Armenian a title shot. But at this stage, the UFC’s plan for Topuria’s first title defense – expected to take place later this year – remains unclear.

Chael, who says he was best man at the wedding of Tsarukyan’s wrestling coach, claims the UFC is already set on matching Arman with the champion. “I’m giving you information – this isn’t my opinion, these are facts,” Sonnen said. To support his claim, the former fighter pointed to Topuria’s usual tactics before accepting a bout.

Topuria’s default “I’m not fighting him” position

According to Sonnen, every fighter develops habits – both inside and outside the octagon. And in Topuria’s case, his pre-fight pattern is to publicly deny the matchup at first. “Ilia’s initial reaction to any fight is to say no. The only person he’s ever publicly said ‘I’ll fight’ to is Paddy (Pimblett). Everyone else he’s preparing to face, he starts by denying.”

Sonnen compared this to the behavior of his biggest UFC rival, Anderson Silva – who was known to reject fights for a couple of weeks before finally agreeing. “Ilia is no different, whether he realizes it or not. Every time he’s about to fight someone – anyone other than Paddy – the first thing he says is: ‘I’m not fighting him,’” Sonnen concluded.

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