UFC icon wants Ilia Topuria to hold three belts, Merab Dvalishvili shares his P4P rankings, Tracy Cortez talks serious health scares: MMA News Roundup

Welcome to today's edition of Sportskeeda MMA News Roundup! Chael Sonnen believes Ilia Topuria should be holding not two but three belts after UFC 317. Meanwhile, Merab Dvalishvili shared his pound-for-pound list, and Tracy Cortez revealed a frightening battle with abdominal tumors that nearly derailed her career. Let's break them all down:

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Chael Sonnen says UFC made a mistake by not giving Ilia Topuria three belts

Ilia Topuria walked away from UFC 317 with two belts and a historic knockout win. But according to Chael Sonnen, it should have been three. Speaking on ESPN MMA's Good Guy / Bad Guy podcast, Sonnen slammed the UFC for not putting the BMF title on the line when Topuria fought Max Holloway.

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He called it a “mistake” and argued that the marketing team blew a massive opportunity by not giving Topuria the symbolic title. He said:

"There was a mistake made. The mistake was made to put Ilia in there with the reigning BMF champion and not to put up that belt. That son of a b**ch should have three belts right now... The marketing and the posters are totally different if we had that... Ilia Topuria should have two [belts] over his shoulders and one around his waist."

He added:

"I really do think that was an error, and I'm glad that error is not going to be made the next time Max fights. I'm glad they are making him put the belt up."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below:

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Merab Dvalishvili puts Ilia Topuria at the top of his P4P list

Merab Dvalishvili is on a 13-fight win streak and could easily argue that he should be ranked at the top of the pound-for-pound list. But when asked for his top three pound-for-pound fighters, he put Ilia Topuria at the top.

Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dvalishvili said Topuria is number one because of his undefeated record and his ability to dominate across divisions. He said:

''Right now, I will say Ilia [Topuria]. Number one. Who does this? I mean, he’s undefeated and how he wins the last three fights and two division champion. Number two, Islam [Makhachev]. I will say number three, [Alexandre] Pantoja. Number four is good...I have to be humble because I don’t wanna overlook my opponents''

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below:

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Tracy Cortez reveals scary tumor discovery before UFC 317 return

Tracy Cortez recently revealed on The Ariel Helwani Show, that she was dealing with a terrifying health scare ahead of her fight against Viviane Araujo at UFC 317. She revealed that doctors found three large non-cancerous tumors in her abdominal area during her layoff.

The news forced her to pause her career, undergo surgery, and focus entirely on recovery. Cortez admitted that she feared for her life and needed full-time support from her father. She said:

"They found tumors, like in my abdominal area. Three huge ones. It was really scary. At that point I was like, f*ck fighting, fuck everything else. I don't want to die. We did biopsies... Just talking about it feels so heavy. I was just really focused on my health. My dad was with me every step of the way. He took time off work. He was staying with me at my house. He was taking care of me."

Check out Tracy Cortez's comments below (4:25):

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Edited by Abhishek Nambiar