Former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria is in London for Saturday’s UFC Battle Evening present, and Brazilian light-weight Kaue Fernandes hopes to go away him in shock along with his efficiency.
Fernandes will face Guram Kutateladze within the preliminary portion of the cardboard on the O2 Area and mentioned that beating a person that’s associates with fellow Georgian stars Ilia Topuria and Merab Dvalishvili might create some buzz — and future narratives.
“I considered it,” Fernandes mentioned of presumably seeing Dvalishvili and Topuria within the reverse nook on Saturday. “What if Topuria is there ,and I don’t know, he’s type of pressured that his good friend misplaced, and it creates a narrative [laughs]. I feel the actual fact [Kutateladze] is associates with the champions does create an even bigger hype.”
Topuria reigned because the 145-pound champion, however he determined to vacate the belt to maneuver as much as Fernandes’ weight class and chase Islam Makhachev’s throne. The UFC has but to announce a date and first opponent for Topuria at light-weight.
“[Kutateladze] has some already — not a lot, however some hype,” he continued. “If I beat him in an in depth resolution, for instance, it offers me no hype. But when I knock him out, it does give me some hype. I feel it’s a wonderful alternative. … This struggle will put me able that I can ask for extra. I’ve what it takes already, I simply haven’t confirmed it but. And I can solely present it by preventing.”
The Nova Uniao light-weight misplaced an in depth cut up resolution to Marc Diakiese in his octagon debut again in 2023 and rebounded with a first-round knockout over Mohammad Yahya in Abu Dhabi, and says that competing in enemy territory fuels him.
“I’m a bit completely different relating to that,” Fernandes mentioned of getting into the octagon in Europe. “I feel it offers me extra vitality after I’m preventing away. My final struggle was in Abu Dhabi, towards a man from Abu Dhabi. I get to go to London, which was a dream of mine, and I get a ton of vitality [fighting here]. It makes me extra highly effective.”
Fernandes feels extra assured getting into the cage off of a victory in comparison with final time round, when he needed to overcome a earlier defeat. Ending Yahya “offers you confidence along with your punching energy to know that while you land, it can trigger injury,” Fernandes mentioned, as he hopes it ends with a $50,000 efficiency bonus on his pocket.
“[Kutateladze] did extra grappling than stand-up in his final struggle though he comes from a placing background,” Fernandes mentioned of Kutateladze’s resolution victory over Jordan Vucenic in August 2023. “He tends to grapple when he feels in peril on the toes, however each athlete is like that. If I really feel it’s not going my approach, which for my part is unlikely, I can try this too. He may attempt to grapple, however I count on this to be a stand-up struggle.”
