No. 5 ranked contender Ilia Topuria says he, not Alexander Volkanovski, is the best featherweight fighter of all time.
Topuria has been using a large wave of momentum following his spectacular unanimous resolution victory over Josh Emmett final month. El Matador’ moved to 6-0 contained in the Octagon, 14-0 general. With the win, Topuria is taken into account by many to be the subsequent man in line to problem reigning UFC featherweight world champion, Alexander Volkanovski.
Following Volkanovski’s dominant third-round TKO in opposition to interim titleholder Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290, Ilia Topuria engaged in an intense face-off with the ‘The Nice’ because the promotion’s newest pay-per-view providing went off the air.
In a short interview with InsideFighting, Ilia Topuria prompt that he’s the best fighter within the featherweight division. ‘El Matador’ even went as far as to assert that he can end Volkanovski any method he chooses, any time he chooses, contained in the Octagon.
“I can end him nonetheless I would like within the first spherical. If I need to submit him, I’m going to submit him. If I need to knock him out, I’m going to knock him out,” Topuria mentioned. “I’m the best featherweight of all time in entrance of you proper now.”
Ilia Topuria additionally prompt that his extremely anticipated scrap with Alexander Volkanovski might go down this December. No official bulletins have been made, however ‘The Nice’ has additionally been linked to a possible light-weight title rematch with Islam Makhachev in October when the promotion returns to Abu Dhabi.
Getting into the promotion in 2020, Topuria has curated a formidable resume for himself, scoring wins in opposition to Youssef Zalal, Damon Jackson, Ryan Corridor, Jai Herbert, Bryce Mitchell, and the aforementioned Josh Emmett.
With Volkanovski’s spectacular victory in opposition to Yair Rodriguez on Saturday night time, ‘The Nice’ has returned to the highest of the pound-for-pound rankings, sharing the highest spot with two-division titleholder Jon ‘Bones’ Jones.
