Chael Sonnen believes the UFC will schedule Ilia Topuria’s first lightweight title defense against Arman Tsarukyan. Drawing a comparison to his former rival Anderson Silva, Sonnen suggested that Topuria is simply building anticipation among fans by rejecting the fight.Many MMA analysts, including Sonnen, are backing Tsarukyan to receive a title shot. However, Topuria said he's willing to vacate his lightweight throne if the 28-year-old doesn't compete for the No. 1 contender spot. In response, Tsarukyan took several jabs at the reigning champion, mocking him for allegedly avoiding a matchup.During a recent interview with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, Sonnen claimed that Topuria’s title defense against Tsarukyan is already booked by the UFC:''Outside of illness or injury, even if I'm breaking news to you, I'm not sharing my opinion. I'm sharing a fact with you: It's Arman [Tsarukyan] vs. Ilia [Topuria]. That is 100 percent the plan''When asked why he believes the potential lightweight showdown will take place, Sonnen said:''There's a couple things (that have changed for Tsarukyan)...a bigger tell also is what Ilia did a week ago, which he said, 'I don't want the fight'... Ilia's first move for doing a fight is to deny the fight...It's just his approach. Anderson (Silva) had one. He would always deny the fight and he would let that run for about two weeks. He would then accept the fight...Ilia's first move when he's going to fight a guy, aside from Paddy [Pimblett], is to say to, 'I'm not going to fight the guy.'''Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below:As for Tsarukyan, 'Ahalkalakets' is ready to face Justin Gaethje in a title eliminator bout if he doesn't receive a title shot. Notably, in his last octagon appearance at UFC 300, the Armenian earned a hard-fought split decision win over former champion Charles Oliveira. That earned him a title opportunity against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311. However, Tsarukyan was forced to withdraw from the main event due to a back injury.Chael Sonnen backs Ilia Topuria to defeat Arman Tsarukyan in a potential fightIn the aforementioned conversation with Mike Bohn, Chael Sonnen expressed his admiration for Ilia Topuria while asserting that Arman Tsarukyan presents a serious threat to the reigning champion’s lightweight throne.However, the UFC Hall of Famer favored Topuria to prevail over Tsarukyan in a potential title fight, saying:''Matchup-wise, the hardest matchup for Ilia is Arman Tsarukyan... I think that the world would lean toward Topuria right now. He's just the flavor. He's hot. He's undefeated and he's the champion of the world. (He) should be two-division champion, BMF champion, lineal-wise. But if Tsarukyan gets his hand on you, you've got a problem."Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (1:07:19):