Cory Sandhagen shares his thoughts on a potential Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev matchup: “It’s a hot take”

UFC contender Cory Sandhagen has given his thoughts on a possible showdown between Ilia Topuria and Islam Makahchev.

It’s the fight that the mixed martial arts universe is desperate to see: Ilia Topuria vs Islam Makhachev. The best featherweight on the planet vs the best lightweight in the world, and and perhaps the two best fighters in the game. Unfortunately, Makhachev has opted to move up to welterweight in pursuit of a second world title. In his absence, Topuria will battle Charles Oliveira for the soon-to-be-vacant strap at 155 pounds.

RELATED: Ilia Topuria calls Islam Makhachev a ‘coward’ for avoiding UFC lightweight title fight

There are a lot of moving parts but right now, we know that Topuria vs Makhachev isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Alas, that doesn’t mean it never will, and a lot of people are still holding out hope that it’ll go down at some point in the near future.

In a recent interview, Cory Sandhagen gave his thoughts on how Topuria vs Makhachev could play out.

Sandhagen’s view on Topuria vs Makhachev

“I’m going to actually go against what most people say, and I honestly think Ilia would win that fight,” Sandhagen said on the “Overdogs Podcast.” “It’s a hot take, but I do. I think his stature is going to be hard to take down for Islam, and I think if those two are standing, I just think that Ilia is a way, way dangerous guy standing, and I just really can’t see Islam hurting him because his guard is real good. I think Ilia will win that one.”

“I have watched a bunch of JDM’s fights, and I know that he’s real good, but I don’t really want to see JDM fight Islam honestly,” Sandhagen said. “I don’t really like when someone wins a belt and then they fight a guy from the lower weight class. I kind of want to watch JDM fight at 170 for a bit before too much of that stuff starts happening. I really want to watch Ilia and Islam fight, and I really want to watch Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones fight.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie