Islam Makhachev trashes ‘average athlete’ Chael Sonnen after claiming he was ducking Ilia Topuria; Sonnen responds

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Islam Makhachev promises he’s built different than Chael Sonnen and that’s why the former UFC title challenger can’t understand his decision to chase greatness by going after a second championship in a new weight class.

On Thursday, Makhachev fired back at Sonnen after the retired fighter and current UFC analyst claimed is was a “sign of cowardice” that the Russian was going after welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena rather than sticking around at lightweight to face Ilia Topuria.