Ilia
Topuria’s bravado has not diminished one bit after moving up to
lightweight.
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Known for his bold confidence, Topuria has never failed to back it
up with action so far in an undefeated mixed martial arts career.
“El Matador” recently vacated the
UFC featherweight title and moved up to lightweight, seeking
another belt. While he wanted to fight Islam
Makhachev, the lightweight champ has vacated his title to
pursue welterweight gold. Topuria will now face Charles
Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317
on June 28 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
While some wonder if Topuria’s knockout power will translate to
lightweight, Topuria claims to feel even stronger. Topuria feels so
powerful that he is worried about Oliveira’s chin exploding if he
connects.
“I represent the new generation of mixed martial arts,” Topuria
said in a UFC 317 promotional video. “I’m the best fighter in the
world… Now it’s time to become a lightweight world champion. I want
to hold that belt too… I feel so powerful at 155, I’m gonna touch
his chin and it will explode.”
Topuria has finished 14 of his 16 career wins, which includes eight
UFC outings. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard knocked out Alexander
Volkanovski to win the featherweight title and defended it by
handing Max
Holloway his first knockout loss.
Meanwhile, Oliveira won the lightweight title against Michael
Chandler and defended it once before losing the belt on the
scale ahead of UFC 274. He came up short in his next title
opportunity, falling to Islam
Makhachev at UFC 280. He has since sandwiched a loss against
Arman
Tsarukyan between wins over Beneil
Dariush and Chandler.