Ilia Topuria Reveals How Brother Helped Him Defeat Alexander Volkanovski

Ilia
Topuria’s brother, Aleksandre
Topuria, had some elite corner advice for him in his
UFC featherweight title win.

Ilia defeated Alexander
Volkanovski via second-round knockout at UFC 298 this past
February to be crowned the featherweight champ. The
Georgian-Spaniard is set to defend his title for the first time
against Max
Holloway in the main event at UFC 308
on Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Leading up to the
fight, Topuria revealed how his brother helped him in his win over
“The Great.”

Once Ilia returned to his corner after the first round, Aleksandre
pointed out that Volkanovski’s left arm doesn’t stay on guard.
Aleksandre also advised Ilia to add pressure when Volkanovski moved
toward him once the second round started.

“His left arm is set quite low. He puts his left arm here. Once you
start, cut his distance a bit if it is possible,” Ilia said via
translation in the UFC 308 Countdown video. “Continue with your
right arm, return to your initial position. Don’t stay there… When
he moves towards you, add more pressure, Ilia.”

Listening to his brother, “El Matador” walked down Volkanovski to
land a four-punch combo that earned an instant stoppage.

“After the first round, when I went to the corner, my brother told
me, ‘Work on the counter on his jab.’… The second round, he started
to slow down a little bit… He threw me a jab; I did a four-punch
combination,” Ilia said. “Like, one, two, three, four — boom …
Game over, my friend. It’s game over.”

While Ilia has both Georgian and Spanish citizenship, Aleksandre’s
nationality is only Georgian currently. The 28-year-old has
finished all five of his pro wins inside the first round, with his
lone loss dating back to 2015. “El Conquistador” also signed with
the UFC this past August, and he could potentially compete at both
bantamweight and featherweight. Ilia has previously said that his
brother could be even better than him and has championship
potential.