By FCF Staff

As the MMA world continues to debate what’s next for Ilia Topuria, Matt Brown’s outlined why he believes “El Matador” should be booked for a fight with the UFC’s lightweight king, Islam Makhachev.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Topuria has vacated the featherweight title to make a run at lightweight. The consensus is that the UFC hopes to book a bout between Topuria and Makhachev next. But, the lightweight champ has said previously he’s not interested in that fight, while citing his two victories over another former featherweight champ, Alex Volkanovski.

Recently, Brown weighed in on Topuria’s next bout during “The Fighter vs. The Writer” podcast. The former welterweight contender outlined why he thinks granting Topuria (16-0) a title shot make sense (quotes via MMA Fighting.com).

“I give it to Ilia. We’ve talked about it, Islam, he’ll give resistance to that. He’ll try for that not to be the fight. Rightfully enough, I think he should but I don’t feel like anybody else has done anything significant to be just clear. That’s why there’s four of them [vying for a title shot].

“No one has stuck out so much that you’re like OK, this guy should get the fight. I say give the opportunity to Ilia. Go see if it works for him. If it does, then you have an even more ginormous star in Ilia.”

Makhachev (27-1) is coming off a submission win over Renato “Moicano” in January. “Moicano” was a last minute replacement for Arman Tsarukyan, who withdraw from the bout due to a back injury. Following his withdrawal, UFC CEO Dana White said Tsarukyan would not be rebooked for a title shot in his next outing.