One of the UFC’s top welterweight contenders wasn’t surprised to see Ilia Topuria brutally knock out Alexander Volkanovski and claim the promotion’s featherweight belt.
Topuria’s knockout power was already well-established leading up to the biggest fight of his career at UFC 298, but seeing the challenger sleep Volkanovski in the second round was a shocking moment even for fans that expected the 27-year-old to unseat the champion.
The highlight-reel victory impressed a number of other fighters on the UFC roster, and #4-ranked welterweight contender Gilbert Burns recently revealed that Topuria put on quite a show when he spent time training at Kill Cliff FC ahead of his fight with Josh Emmett.
“This guy came here to the gym, he did half of his camp against Josh Emmett here,” Burns told Luke Thomas. “And he knocked out three of my teammates. Out, not down. Out, with the big gloves. I’m gonna say that one more time – with the big gloves, out.”
Hearing that “El Matador” still has incredible knockout power in boxing gloves bodes well for his future plans to test himself in the boxing ring, but Burns also went on to explain that Topuria was just as impressive on the mats when matched up with high-level wrestlers.
“I saw him grappling. He’s not a big dude, he’s not a tall dude. But he’s solid. And the other day that we were wrestling, Topuria was in the middle with the high level group. Wrestlers from frickin’ Dagestan. And that guy is so strong and good defense. He took the guy down, Dagestani wrestler…This guy can do it all.”
Topuria flashed his grappling skills when he submitted Bryce Mitchell in the second round at UFC 282, and although the unbeaten fighter has largely relied on his hands as of late, all but one of his wins before joining the UFC came via submission.
The 27-year-old’s seemingly boundless confidence and well-rounded skillset could result in a lengthy featherweight title reign, but even though the division has a few possible contenders it looks as if Topuria might be more interested in pursuing other challenges like a super fight in Spain against Conor McGregor.
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