Colby Thicknesse is vowing to show the difference in ability between Ilia Topuria and the featherweight kingpin’s UFC debuting brother this weekend.
The preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC 312 pay-per-view will see two prominent newcomers collide, with Thicknesse and Aleksandre Topuria getting their first taste of Octagon action against one another.
The Australian bantamweight, a teammate of Alexander Volkanovski’s, boasts an undefeated record and is coming off championship success under the HEX Fight Series banner. In “El Conquistador,” though, Thicknesse is facing the sibling of one of the most feared and dominant men in the UFC right now.
But challenging an opponent who trains alongside the current 145-pound champ and shares the same name doesn’t faze the local favorite, who is confident in rejecting any comparison between the two when it comes to skill level.
“He’s definitely got the same sort of style because they train together, but he’s not his brother, and I’m going to go out there on (Saturday) and show it,” Thicknesse said during UFC 312 media day. “He hasn’t really beaten anybody noticeable. His opponent’s combined records aren’t that great. Come (Saturday), I get to go out and show that against him.”