What Alex Pereira’s coach has seen from Ilia Topuria could worry Justin Gaethje: ‘Never in my life…’

Justin Gaethje will be locked inside the Octagon with a frightening force on June 14.

The UFC lightweight titles will be unified on that date, as Gaethje battles champion Ilia Topuria in the main event at the White House.

‘El Matador’ is looking to continue his trend of knocking out legends, having brutally finished Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway, and Alexander Volkanovski in consecutive fights.

Many fans are expecting Gaethje to suffer the same fate, and recent comments from Alex Pereira’s coach may have increased their backing of Topuria.

Coach Plinio Cruz has ‘never’ seen a lightweight hit pads like Ilia Topuria

Joining Topuria and Gaethje as another of the big UFC stars in action on the White House lawn will be Alex Pereira.

Before the lightweight title unification fight, Pereira will fight Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title, as the Brazilian looks to become the promotion’s first-ever triple champion.

Ahead of the event in Washington D.C., Pereira’s coach got to watch Topuria’s famed boxing skills in action behind closed doors. It is safe to say that Plinio Cruz was both shocked and impressed.

During a recent appearance on the Connect Cast podcast, the coach described what he witnessed.

“I’ve never in my life seen a guy (in) that weight class in MMA hit mitts like that,” Cruz said about Topuria (h/t Central do MMA via X).

“It’s scary,” he added.