American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez is giving due
credit to Ilia
Topuria.
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Topuria put his featherweight title on the line against Max
Holloway in the main event at UFC 308
this past Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. “El Matador”
became the first to knock out Holloway, who had previously
proclaimed himself the “best boxer in the UFC.”
After knocking out Alexander
Volkanovski to win the title at UFC 298 this past February and
defending his strap against Holloway, Topuria has now put himself
in “Fighter of the Year” conversations. The undefeated
Georgian-Spaniard has been rallying a future double-champ bid
against Islam
Makhachev since his title win over “The Great.”
After the way Topuria finished Holloway, a clash against Makhachev
in the near future doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Speaking of a
potential clash between the two, Mendez, who is one of Makhachev’s
primary coaches, labeled Topuria the best boxer in all of MMA.
Mendez admits that it wouldn’t be wise of Makhachev to engage with
Topuria on the feet but says the same is true for “El Matador” in
wrestling.
“[Ilia’s] got the best boxing, I believe, in the whole division,
all the divisions, not just one,” Mendez recently told Submission
Radio. “So that’d would be an area I would be foolish to want to
try to go up against boxing for boxing. That’s not a smart move. It
would be like if Ilia decided go submission for submission with
Islam. That’s not a smart move on his part, either. So it’s all
strategy and how you approach it.”
While Topuria has recently gained fame as a knockout artist, the
champ had only one KO win and seven submission wins to his name
before joining the
UFC. Topuria also put on some grappling display at UFC 308,
securing both of his takedown attempts in his victory over Holloway
last Saturday. While Mendez was impressed with Topuria’s wrestling,
he doesn’t believe “El Matador” can hold his own on the ground
against the lightweight champ.
“I was impressed with [Topuria’s wrestling]. But whether he can
hang with Islam or not on the ground, I would have to say no,”
Mendez said. “Based on what I see with everybody… And the only
person that really did the most with him was Khabib. And at the end
of the day the longer you grapple with Islam, the worse it’s gonna
get.”