Ilia Topuria makes a daring prediction for the confrontation of the title UFC 317 against Charles Oliveira
Ilia Topuria is in the middle of her speed through MMA’s history books.
The edition of this year of Fight International week ends on Saturday with the UFC 317, invited by a massive confrontation for the vacant light weight title. The former featherweight champion Topuria has left her weight category – and her belt – with the intention of becoming a holder with two divisions, and it starts in Las Vegas against former light champion Charles Oliveira.
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Appearing during the Monday edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show”, Topuria broke her long -awaited return to 155 pounds.
“You can never count it because he is a dangerous guy,” said Topuria about Oliveira. “He has the most finishes in the history of the UFC. But I faced these kinds of situations several times, with [Alexander Volkanovski]With Max Holloway. No one could beat them. No one could knock them out. And they always had this thing in their minds, like: “Oh, I faced this guy and this and that. No one could drop me. You never faced me. You have never faced someone skillful like me.
“This is what I have said for a long time. The development of skills that I bring to this sport, they have never felt it, they have never seen it. This is what will happen with Charles. He thinks he has opportunities, but the reality is that he [does] not. The only thing he has to do is to introduce himself, and I will do the rest. “”
Topuria, 28, was an image of perfection throughout her career of 15 MMA fights, beating all the arrivals, with only two opponents who last long enough to see the dashboards of the judges. In its first two UFC title fights, Topuria has achieved two of the most incredible performances of the last decade, eliminating the big ones from all time Volkanovski and Holloway successively.
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Despite the new division and a new dangerous obstacle to Oliveira, “El Matador” predicts a similar result this time.
“I’m going to finish it in the first round,” said Topuria. “He is advancing – that’s all I need. The time I need to knock out my opponents is the time I need to finish the distance, because they run away. They run, they move from one side to the other, and once I do the distance and I go with my combinations, I knock them out. But with Charles, I will not need to close the distance because it is not.
At the time of Topuria’s decision to gain weight last February, the king of 155 pounds was still Islam Makhachev, a dominant champion of light record weights. However, Makhachev has since followed the traces of Topuria, moving towards the Welter weight and leaving its title behind.
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Although short-lived, the hypothetical confrontation between superior book competitors for ultra-tailoring book has created an instant buzz and intrigue. Topuria and Makhachev had some brief exchanges on social networks when the featherweight of Topuria, but ultimately the fight will have to wait.
“I think he’s doing his thing. I don’t think [Makhachev] Do I fuck myself, to be honest, “said Topuria.” I would lie to you if I told you that he drags me. I think he is tired of the weight cut. He wants a new challenge. He moved to the Welters weight division. He feels and he thinks he has a chance to become a double champion. I think that’s all he tries to do. “”
The absence of Makhachev of the light division did not close the door to a potential fight one day. It would simply depend on the weight category, which was an important factor in the decision -making of Topuria.
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Topuria has said in recent months that he was generally walking around 180 pounds, which has made weights to featherweights that are too difficult to continue after reaching his league goal. As everything is said and done, do not be surprised if he finally continues his ascent through weight classes.
“If I walk on the street with my wife and someone tells him something, I’m not going to ask him:” What is your weight? What is your reach? Height? “” Said Topuria. “I’m going to stay there and I will remove my head. This is how I think. This is the combat sector. I don’t care how much is your weight. If we are fighting, fight. If you have 10 additional pounds, congratulations, but that won’t help you.
“Without fail [I could fight at welterweight before I’m done]. It could happen. Listen, if you have a champion like Belal [Muhammad]Or I don’t know many names that I could bring right now, it’s an easy path. You can go and get this title, and that’s it.
“Right now, I feel good, I feel happy,” added Topuria. “I am always able to continue eating, to drink. I did not have to kill myself until this moment. Of course, the fight week is always difficult, always difficult. But you cannot even compare. The extra pounds have given me life.”
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Topuria said that he expects to be between 174 and 179 pounds the Night Fight, which is an important bump from the 167 to 171 pounds to which he contributed for a featherweight.
While Topuria is part of the influx of new fresh faces entering the image of the light title of the UFC, the same goes for his former rival Paddy Pimbett, which appeared as a real threat of title in the years which followed their infamous spit in 2022 in a hunting hotel in London. Pimbett’s last victory occurred in a dominant third round judgment against Michael Chandler in April, extending his sequence of new victories, with seven of those in UFC.
Ilia Topuria has entered history by eliminating Max Hollway in her latest featherweight fight.
(Chris Unger via Getty Images)
If Topuria claims the title of 155 pounds, he could in theory set up their long -awaited resentment match. However, as impressive as Pimbett looks, Topuria thinks that the Liverpudlian needs at least one victory.
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“No, that will not happen. He is a fight of the title,” said Topuria. “He really needs this fight because it will be even better for our fight, if he gets one more victory. We are going, I think, the biggest fight in the UFC right now. He against Justin Gaethje is good, because I think he’s going to beat [Gaethje] easily because of the style [matchup].
“It is not as if I don’t like Justin Gaethje – I’m actually a big fan of all his fights. I like to watch him fight. He is one of those guys who fists and throws a lot of punches. I love watching him fight, but I think Paddy could get this victory easily because of the style.”
A Topuria fight against Pimbelett would be massive, regardless of the location, but the same goes for Topuria against anyone in his country of origin, Spain.
Unfortunately, “El Matador” has not yet received his great UFC fight at home in Spain. The CEO of the UFC, Dana White, remained consistent with her interest in making a card in the country, in particular with the brilliant topuria star with each victory.
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Topuria always maintains hope, whatever a Spanish spectacle could make figures in terms of figures.
“”[The dream is] Not finished, “said Topuria about a return to the UFC.” They are trying to conclude a new agreement, so maybe in this agreement, they will get space to make an event in Europe in prime hours in Europe. If they get it, I would like to fight in Spain in the [Santiago Bernabéu] Stadium. It must be in the stadium. It will be crazy, but I don’t know if payment by view would be crazy.
“If they make great listening hours in Europe, I don’t think that payment numbers in sight will do very well [because of how early it’d be in the U.S.]. The largest market for payment by vision is the United States. I think the biggest battles should occur in the United States. “”
