Ilia Topuria is officially the MMA superstar of Europe. Now what?

5. Conor McGregor, Islam Makhachev, Sean O’Malley or anyone else who’s not an active featherweight

Let’s establish this baseline right away. Ilia Topuria is doing all the right things, promotionally speaking, by calling out Conor McGregor and messing with another pound-for-pound great in Islam Makhachev. However, realistically speaking, we’re looking for a featherweight fighter somewhere in the top 5 to step up and make a run for it.

Champ vs. champ type fights against the Islam Makhachevs and Sean O’Malleys of the world could absolutely happen down the line. But I feel that Topuria needs to really establish himself as a champion first by taking on a legit contender in featherweight division as his first task.