Aljamain Sterling: Ilia Topuria's title run more impressive than Conor McGregor's
Aljamain Sterling rates Ilia Topuria's reign over two divisions higher than Conor McGregor's.
Topuria's rise in the UFC has been eerily similar to McGregor's, with both fighters claiming the UFC featherweight and lightweight titles. Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) became lightweight champion when he knocked out Charles Oliveira in Saturday's UFC 317 main event.
Sterling thinks Topuria's title knockout wins over Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Oliveira are better than McGregor's over Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, and Eddie Alvarez.
"It's greater than Conor's run," Sterling said on his YouTube channel. "In terms of star power, Ilia has done the craziest and greatest thing that we've ever seen from a modern-day UFC fighter. You look at Conor – and this is no shade towards Conor – I would say his best run in terms of name value was Chad Mendes, but it was short notice. We've got to be honest about that. Then he fought Jose Aldo, right? I think it was right after, and then he fought Eddie Alvarez. A beautiful 13-second knockout (against Aldo) which set the world on fire – that's huge. And then he does that to Eddie Alvarez, which I thought was a tailor-made matchup stylistically for him. But still, he was the champ at the time and he did them the way he did them.
"But then you have Ilia. His last three people have been some of the greatest combat athletes of all time. It's insane what this guy has done. I don't think there's been a more impressive three-fight run than this, and the way he's doing it."
While McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) is the first UFC fighter to hold two belts simultaneously, Topuria became the first undefeated fighter to capture two UFC titles. "The Notorious" praised Topuria for his achievements.
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