Although Ilia Topuria‘s featherweight title reign was short, Robert Whittaker says you can’t deny the results.
With featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (27-4 MMA, 14-3 UFC) making his first title defense in a rematch against Diego Lopes in Saturday’s UFC 325 headliner in Sydney, the featherweight GOAT debate has restarted. Volkanovski defended his belt five times in his first reign, before regaining his title with a win over Lopes at UFC 314.
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Jose Aldo (32-10 MMA, 14-9 UFC) holds the record for most consecutive title defenses in UFC featherweight history at seven, with Volkanovski at five, and Max Holloway (27-8 MMA, 23- 8 UFC) at three. However, for Whittaker, Topuria’s (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) one title defense over Holloway places him above everyone but Volkanovski.
“I feel like he has to be at the top of my list, almost at the very tippy top, because of the work he did,” Whittaker said of Topuria during the UFC 325 morning weigh-in show. “I understand that, but he dismantled great after great and then moved up a weight class and dismantled another great. I feel like you can’t disregard that.
“I feel like you can’t disregard the fact that he knocked out Volk and Max. Volk is at the top of my list because it’s Volk. He has ran that division since day dot, and it’s Volk. I’m biased. Volk is my No. 1, Ilia is my No. 2. Volk and Max were the boogeymen of that division. They were running through people, fights weren’t close until they fought each other and then Ilia dismantled both of them.”
With Aldo retired and both Holloway and Topuria now competing at lightweight, Volkanovski is the only one from that discussion who remains at featherweight.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Why Robert Whittaker ranks Ilia Topuria No. 2 greatest featherweight
