Former UFC featherweight champ Ilia Topuria was already a strong striker, however now that he’s shifting to 155, Topuria is predicting that energy going to game-changing ranges.
“You’ll see me at 155 that I’m going to the touch somebody and I’m going to take his lights out,” Topuria mentioned on the Joe Rogan Expertise. “I don’t want to the touch his chin. I’ll simply contact his head and it’ll explode.
“I really feel so highly effective at that weight class, so highly effective, so secure on the bottom. Do you wish to wrestle? Let’s wrestle. No downside. And I’ve the fuel tank for 5 days, not 5 rounds.”
Topuria vacated the featherweight title in lieu of a transfer to the UFC’s loaded 155-pound division. The undefeated fighter knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the belt at UFC 298 in February 2024, then efficiently defended it by turning into the primary fighter ever to cease Max Holloway with strikes at UFC 308 this previous October.
The everlasting transfer up a weight class is a brand new problem for Topuria, and when requested if there are fighters who’ve been competing within the mistaken weight class, Topuria says it’s about particular person wants and circumstances.
“It relies upon: A few of them, sure. A few of them, no,” Topuria defined. “I feel there are guys combating at 145 that they might battle at 135 as a result of there are smaller… like José Aldo. However on the identical time, he was a world champion for thus lengthy, and among the finest. Perhaps he would’ve reduce the burden to 135 [earlier in his career] and wouldn’t have the vitality.”
