Alexander Volkanovski believes Ilia Topuria could KO Islam Makhachev if he tries champ-champ status

Alexander Volkanovski believes that Ilia Topuria could become a champ-champ if he tries to.

Topuria is the UFC’s featherweight champion and is coming off a TKO win over Max Holloway to defend his belt at UFC 308. He became the first person to knockout Holloway, as he showed off his insane power.

With Ilia Topuria having knocked out Volkanovski and Holloway in his past two fights, some fans have called for him to move up to lightweight and challenge Islam Makhachev. If he does move up, Alexander Volkanovski thinks he could have success and wouldn’t be surprised if he KO’d Makhachev.

"Can he knock Islam out? Yeah, of course."

Volk shares his thoughts on a matchup between Islam Makhachev x Ilia Topuria. pic.twitter.com/oUKlJk5Nfb

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 28, 2024

“Submission, I don’t see that happening. Can he knock Islam out? Of course, he can. He can knock anyone out in these two divisions (featherweight and lightweight). I’ve always said, and it’s the same for Islam, the only way I feel see these guys like myself losing is getting caught. Who can catch these? It’s guys like Ilia, it’s guys like Ilia that can do that,” Volkanovski said to Ariel Helwani.

“He can go out there and land,” Alexander Volkanovski continued about Ilia Topuria. But, going out there and beating Islam or even submitting him or controlling him, I think that is very unlikely. But, definitely can catch him. Ilia can catch anyone in them two divisions, so you can never count out Ilia in fights, but they will be tough fights. If he can’t knock them out, they will be tough fights.”

Alexander Volkanovski knows first-hand how powerful Ilia Topuria is, so he thinks the featherweight champ could KO Islam Makhachev. He also has shown his power at 155lbs as he knocked out Jai Herbert at lightweight in a fight to stay busy for him.

Ilia Topuria open to Islam Makhachev superfight

Although Alexander Volkanovski thinks Ilia Topuria could KO Islam Makhachev the fight likely won’t happen next.

Instead, Topuria will likely rematch Volkanovski while Makhachev will likely rematch Arman Tsarukyan next. But, before UFC 308, Topuria said he was open to the idea of moving up and facing Makhachev.

“If they call me and they want me to move up to the lightweight division, I will be okay with that moving up and be the first one to submit Islam. If they want me to keep on defending that belt in the featherweight division, I will be okay with that, too. Let’s leave that decision to the UFC,” Topuria said at the UFC 308 media day.

If Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev win their next fight, a fight between the two would be one of the most highly-anticipated bouts in UFC history.