Khamzat
Chimaev only has words of praise for Ilia
Topuria.
Chimaev and Topuria previously trained together at the AllStars
Training Centre in Stockholm, Sweden. The two also competed under
the same umbrella of Brave FC in 2019, both serving as prominent
prospects worthy of scouting by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “Borz” noted
that the dedication that eventually made Topuria a UFC champ was
evident in the Georgian-Spaniard even then. Chimaev told Adam Zubayraev on
his “Hustle Vlog” on Thursday:
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“He already was a top fighter at Brave FC, just like me,” Chimaev
remarked. “You could see that he is a hard worker and wants to
achieve things. And he achieved everything that you can achieve in
this sport.”
The fighter formerly known as “La Leyenda” won the title against
Alexander
Volkanovski last year and defended it by knocking out Max
Holloway for the first time. Topuria has since moved up to
lightweight and will challenge Charles
Oliveira for the vacant title at UFC 317 in June. Topuria has
ramped up his trash-talking game even more going into this one,
albeit not towards his upcoming opponent. Topuria called former
champ Islam
Makhachev a “coward” for vacating his belt and moving up to
welterweight. Topuria also vowed to finish Oliveira in the least
painful way, as he likes “do Bronxs” a lot.
While some find Topuria’s trash talk disrespectful, Chimaev thinks
fights won’t sell without some drama. Having spent time with
Topuria, Chimaev posits that the former featherweight champ is a
nice person once you get to know him.
“It wouldn’t be interesting if everyone stayed quiet. But we spent
some time together, talked and ate together. He is a decent guy in
real life,” “Borz” concluded.