Joe Lopez believes Ilia Topuria is following the Conor McGregor model

Alexander Volkanovski’s coach Joe Lopez believes Ilia Topuria is following the Conor McGregor model by moving to lightweight.

As we know, Ilia Topuria is making a move from the featherweight division to lightweight – vacating the gold at 145 pounds in the process. While that’s a shame for the 145 pound division, it certainly opens up a lot of doors for him at 155.

RELATED: Daniel Cormier explains why he’s surprised by Ilia Topuria’s lightweight switch

Someone else who’s taken a similar path to that in the past is Conor McGregor. After he climbed to the top of the mountain at featherweight, he immediately set his sights on adventures in different weight classes.

Joe Lopez, who is the head coach of Alexander Volkanovski, recently gave his thoughts on what exactly Topuria is trying to do.

Lopez’s view on McGregor

“I spoke to his coaches and everything else, but on all accounts I think he he struggles to make that featherweight division,” Lopez told Submission Radio. “I guess he’s won that title, and he wants to follow the same path as (Conor) McGregor – and good luck to him if he makes that much money. I’d do it as well.”

Lopez went on to discuss the possibility of Volkanovski battling Topuria in a rematch at some point in the future.

“Oh, 100 percent, it would be a fight of ages, and I know Volk wants to get that back,” Lopez said. “He was pretty disappointed that Ilia pulled out because Volk’s very proud, and he wants it back. He just wants it back.

“Like I’ve said, maybe we came back too early after the Islam (Makhachev) fight (at UFC 294) and Volk was a little bit gun shy, but we’re not here to make excuses. But we’d really like to get that one back.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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