Ilia Topuria has a word of warning for Charles Oliveira.
This Saturday, June 28, Topuria will make his lightweight debut inside the Octagon. After working his way up the featherweight division, capturing the 145-pound crown via a sensational second-round knockout against Alexander Volkanovski, ‘El Matador’ will look to conquer another weight class when he meets Oliveira for the vacant lightweight world championship at UFC 317 during International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
Boasting a perfect 16-0 record, eight wins coming inside the Octagon, including highlight-reel KOs against Ryan Hall, Bryce Mitchell, and Max Holloway, Topuria has proven time and time again that his elite-level boxing and lights-out power are powerful enough to put out some of the best names in the game.
He’ll look to prove it again when he meets ‘Do Bronx’ on MMA’s biggest stage and bring another title belt home to Spain.
“If I hurt him, he’s not going to have the chance to come back because my power is completely different than the other guys you mentioned before,” Topuria said of Oliveira during a recent interview with MMA Junkie.
Ilia Topuria Predicts first-round finish against Oliveira
Despite facing the most prolific finisher in Ultimate Fighting Championship history, Ilia Topuria is nonetheless confident that he’ll get the job done at UFC 317.
“I’m going to finish him in the first round,” Topuria said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “He walks forward — this is all I need. The time that it takes me to knock out my opponents is the time that it takes me to close the distance, because they run away. They run, they move side to side, and once I close the distance and I go with my combinations, I knock them out.
“But with Charles, I’m not going to need to close the distance because he walks forward. This is all I need to take his lights out. Just try to stay in the middle of the Octagon. Just try to do that, and you’re not going to see me coming.”
Oliveira has finished 20 of his 23 career wins inside the Octagon, 16 by way of submission and four via KO/TKO.
