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It was inevitable... and the fight broke out. Minutes after Ilia Topuria (16-0) lashed out from Alicante against Islam Makhachev (27-1) in Alicante, in front of MARCA's microphones, the Dagestani sent a message on social media against the 'Matador'... and he replied. An exchange of attacks that makes it clear that the fight we missed between the two would have been of a very high level... and very tense. Before, during and after the fight.
"(Makhachev, ed.) is the biggest hypocrite I've ever seen. He told me that he didn't want to give me the opportunity because I was the little guy and now the little guy is him," was the message Ilia sent when asked about the words of Ali Abdelaziz, manager of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev and company.
Makhachev is the biggest hypocrite I have ever seen
And of course, Makhachev replied on social media from Dagestan: "The difference between you and me is that I cleaned out my division and moved on to the next one, but you walked away from two contenders who had 5-9 fight win streaks in the lightweight division. You're nobody in the lightweight division, just a loudmouth from Spain with a good haircut. Get a win and we can talk, kid."
You're nobody in the lightweight division, just a loudmouth from Spain with a good haircut
"The difference between you and me is that I'm a man and you're a coward. I talk and fight, you talk and hide. Run away, without a trace. You're a little boy."
I speak and fight, you speak and hide. Run away, without a trace
The 'Matador' was certainly not amused by the explanations given by Makhachev's camp in recent hours, declaring that they were willing to fight Topuria at UFC 317... but that Belal Muhammad (24-4) lost and that caused Islam's rise to welterweight. "It was all talked about and accepted," Ali said last night on a US media outlet
"They lie, they are liars, that is a pure lie, that is not the reality... but at the same time I understand it, because it is their job. Their job is to clean up the shit that their clients leave behind, isn't it?" Topuria had responded at the WOW 19 press conference, minutes before the barrage of tweets.