‘The Count’ is behind Islam Makhachev’s push for a White House fight over Justin Gaethje’s.
On January 24, Gaethje beat Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 to develop into a two-time interim lightweight champion.
That result appeared to establish a unification showdown between ‘The Highlight’ and returning champion Ilia Topuria for later this 12 months. Within the eyes of Gaethje, the promotion has little option but to place that fight atop the White House card on June 14.
Makhachev recently had something to say about that, nonetheless, and Michael Bisping is behind the Dagestani’s try and hijack the Topuria fight.
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Michael Bisping urges UFC to book Ilia Topuria’s super-fight against Islam Makhachev
Amid the uncertainty surrounding whether the UFC will grant his want to defend the welterweight title against Kamaru Usman, Makhachev recently pitched the Topuria super-fight for the White House event this summer.
Some have dismissed that, citing the necessity to have an American star like Gaethje close out the cardboard in Washington D.C.
For Bisping, though, crucial thing for the UFC is putting on the most important possible fights on June 14 — and so they don’t come any larger than Makhachev vs Topuria.
“You may’t put an event on on the White House and never have the fight card just blow the whole lot else to smithereens,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “This thing has to deliver.
“There is no such thing as a larger fight without delay, in my humble opinion, than Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria.
“I do know Justin is the interim (champion) and Ilia is the undisputed, and that ought to occur,” he continued. “But this can be a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.
“The entire world shall be tuning in. That’s a fact, okay? There’s going to be billions of individuals watching this. They’ve got to placed on the most important fights.
“So unfortunately, in this case, Justin Gaethje’s gonna need to wait.”
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Ilia Topuria’s coach guarantees Justin Gaethje wouldn’t last one round
If the UFC disagrees with Bisping and books Topuria vs Gaethje, the Spaniard’s coach is expecting an American to be brutally knocked out on the White House lawn.
Talking to reporter Alvaro Colmenero, Jorge Climent guaranteed Topuria would knock out Gaethje within the very first round and repeat the performance he put in to develop into lightweight king at UFC 317 last June.
“I’m not going to say 30 seconds, a minute, or two minutes, but 100% it will be in the primary round and 100% in the primary exchange,” coach Climent said.
Having proven plenty flawed by adding the primary blemish to Pimblett’s record in Las Vegas last month, Gaethje will hope to do the identical if given the prospect to unify the lightweight titles against ‘El Matador’.