Josh Thomson has given Ilia Topuria some advice.
Thomson fought in the UFC seven times while also fighting for promotions like Bellator, PRIDE, and Strikeforce. With that, he understands the game and what fighters should and shouldn’t say after fights. So, after Ilia Topuria beat Josh Emmett by a lopsided decision at UFC Jacksonville, he called for a title shot and said he would wait for it.
Yet, Josh Thomson says telling the UFC you will wait for a title shot is not smart and something Toupria shouldn’t have done.
‘You are too far Away’
“I really believe if you want to give him somebody and he actually called for Max Holloway in the post-fight press conference, he’s like I want to fight Max Holloway in Spain. He said, otherwise, I’m going to wait for my title shot,” Josh Thomson said of Topuria on his podcast Weighing In. “You might want to be careful with that. You are too far away buddy. There are still too many top-level guys ranked ahead of you. I agree he deserves to be in that next conversation but I think they need to give him someone like Brian Ortega, Max Holloway, the loser of Yair and Volk. They are going to have to give him one of those guys to get a title shot.
“He said he’ll fight Max in Spain, when you start saying things like that at pressers, Dana takes note,” Thomson continued about Topuria. “He said he’ll wait for his title shot. I remember having conversations with Joe Silva and he’s like you go ahead and wait buddy, you’ll be sitting out there for six to eight months and then I’ll give you somebody that you don’t want and you’ll turn it down and I’ll make you wait again. Be careful, man, be careful.”
If Ilia Topuria decides to wait on a title shot as he says, Josh Thomson wouldn’t be surprised to see him waiting for a long time. Yet, there is no question that after his decision win over Josh Emmett, Topuria is right in the mix to fight for the belt very soon.
