Tag: ilia topuria

Dan Hooker Doubts Ilia Topuria’s Lightweight Claims: ‘He’s Just Working Off McGregor’s Playbook’

While Ilia Topuria and his team have teased a move up to lightweight, it appears not everyone believes that the UFC featherweight champion will make such a jump. During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Topuria’s coach, Jorge Climent, teased that Topuria is looking at a move up to lightweight, even if it means leaving […]

While Ilia Topuria and his team have teased a move up to lightweight, it appears not everyone believes that the UFC featherweight champion will make such a jump.

During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Topuria’s coach, Jorge Climent, teased that Topuria is looking at a move up to lightweight, even if it means leaving the UFC flyweight title he won just 10 months ago behind.

The expectation had been that Topuria would have a rematch with the man he took the belt from, Alexander Volkanovski, at some point in 2025. But “El Matador” caused a stir during a radio appearance in Spain when he suggested he’s competed at 145 pounds for the last time.

One key lightweight contender, Dan Hooker, thinks that talk from Topuria and his camp is just that — talk.

Dan Hooker Doesn’t Believe Ilia Topuria Will Make Jump To Lightweight

During his own recent interview with Submission Radio, Hooker described Topuria’s remarks as “classic s***” that stems from McGregor’s own playbook from 2015-16.

“It’s pretty evident that he’s just working off the line one from McGregor’s playbook, which is keeping your name in the headlines,” Hooker said. “So, all I kind of see from it is that Ilia Topuria is keeping his name in the headlines — like the guy doesn’t fight that often. I think he just fights Volk next year.”

Topuria won the featherweight title by knocking out Volkanovski at UFC 298. He then successfully retained the title at UFC 308, becoming the first man to knock out former champion Max Holloway.

It should be noted the featherweight division is not cleaned out, with Diego Lopes and Movsar Evolev each making their claims of late for a potential title shot down the line.

Hooker, meanwhile, won his third straight fight at UFC 305 in August, defeating Mateusz Gamrot in an entertaining upset.

Ilia Topuria On Conor McGregor Dismissing Fight Rumors: ‘I Don’t Fight Nor Am I Interested In Fighting With A Rapist’

In a recent social media post, Conor McGregor outlined plans for the future of his career in combat sports. “The Notorious” claims that he is in “preliminary agreements” for a return to the boxing ring against Logan Paul in India. Once that is settled, he will turn his attention back towards making a long awaited […]

In a recent social media post, Conor McGregor outlined plans for the future of his career in combat sports. “The Notorious” claims that he is in “preliminary agreements” for a return to the boxing ring against Logan Paul in India. Once that is settled, he will turn his attention back towards making a long awaited return to the UFC.

McGregor also stated in the post that there is no truth to any rumors of him coming back to face off with the promotion’s current featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria.

“El Matador” is a huge star, but while the fight might make sense in terms of how big it would be following the comments exchanged by the two men, it doesn’t appear to be a realistic option for either right now.

Following the clarification from the often cryptic McGregor on X, Topuria has provided his own response to “The Notorious.”

Posting several hours later on his own X account, the 145-pound king posted a scathing message aimed at the Dublin native, which suggests that even if the fight was on the table, he wouldn’t be interested in it.

Topuria’s post makes reference to the recent verdict of McGregor’s civil case, where he was found liable of assault after being accused of raping Nikita Hand.

“The rumors of bout with mchicken are false. I don’t fight nor am I interested in fighting with a rapist,” Topuria wrote.

Topuria has recently declared that he intends on moving up to lightweight in the near future but doesn’t plan on vacating the featherweight title in order to do so.

McGregor, meanwhile, recently posted the following statement on X after being threatened with contempt of court over the comments he shared on social media relating to the verdict of the case.

UFC Tampa Winner Confident Of His Chances Against Ilia Topuria: ‘Carries Himself Like He’s Better Than He Is’

UFC featherweight Sean Woodson sees himself as a difficult matchup for champion Ilia Topuria. Woodson was one of the biggest winners to emerge from this past weekend’s year-ending UFC Fight Night in Tampa, where he stopped the highly touted Fernando Padilla with strikes seconds out from the first round coming to a close. The result […]

UFC featherweight Sean Woodson sees himself as a difficult matchup for champion Ilia Topuria.

Woodson was one of the biggest winners to emerge from this past weekend’s year-ending UFC Fight Night in Tampa, where he stopped the highly touted Fernando Padilla with strikes seconds out from the first round coming to a close.

The result has left “The Sniper” riding a four-fight win streak and unbeaten across his last seven — a run that has him tied with ranked standouts Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy for the longest active unbeaten streak in the featherweight division.

With that in mind, Woodson is looking to join them in the top 15 soon enough as he looks to surge all the way to the gold, which is currently held by the undefeated Topuria.

And should “El Matador” still be on the throne when he gets there, the Missouri native likes his chances.

During his post-fight press conference, Woodson expressed confidence when it comes to how he matches up against the Spaniard.

Given his height and frame, “The Sniper” insisted that he wouldn’t fall to the same fate against Topuria as both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway did this year.

“(Topuria’s) super good – what he’s done so far is,” Woodson said. “But I’m not going to hold my tongue at all. I don’t feel like he’d be able to do me the way he’s done other people at all. He’s too small, too short. I’m a bad matchup for him. I saw online somebody say he gets up to like 187 (pounds), 190 (outside of camp). I don’t believe that at all. I don’t even get that big. He carries himself like he’s better than he is.

“I will say that I would love to fight him. I know I’m a long ways off from that, but I want that fight bad. I would love to fight him one day. I know it sounds crazy. I haven’t had the best (résumé). I ain’t fought (big names), whatever,” Woodson continued. “But I’m telling you right now, they do not do me like he’s done everybody.”

Woodson has plenty of work to do before having the opportunity to prove that assessment correct opposite Topuria inside the Octagon.

For now, he’ll be celebrating his latest triumph on MMA’s biggest stage and looking ahead to what he’ll no doubt hope will be a big 2025 in the career of “The Sniper.”

Top MMA Coach Picks Joaquin Buckley As ‘Fighter Of The Year’ Over Alex Pereira & Ilia Topuria

Coach Eric Nicksick, for one, has been extremely impressed by UFC welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley’s efforts in 2024. Buckley closed out his year in style on Saturday night when he headlined the final event of 2024. Opposite him inside Tampa’s Amalie Arena was former interim champion Colby Covington, who planned on placing his name back […]

Coach Eric Nicksick, for one, has been extremely impressed by UFC welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley’s efforts in 2024.

Buckley closed out his year in style on Saturday night when he headlined the final event of 2024. Opposite him inside Tampa’s Amalie Arena was former interim champion Colby Covington, who planned on placing his name back into title contention a year on from a third failed bid for undisputed status.

“Chaos” didn’t succeed in that ambition, however, with Buckley dominating him in the opening two rounds before a deep cut sustained just above Covington’s right eye proved too bad for him to continue.

With the result, “New Mansa” has gone 4-0 this year, having previously knocked out Vicente Luque, outpointed Nursulton Ruziboev, and stopped Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.

And according to Nicksick, that’s elevated him not only into the “Fighter of the Year” discussion, but above both consensus leading candidates Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria.

“Real talk, @Newmansa94 (Buckley) resurrection needs to be studied,” Nicksick wrote on X. “6-0 in a new division w/ 4 stoppages, 4-0 in 2024. Ladies and Gentlemen, he’s your 2024 Fighter of the Year. I’m out”

Pereira, the reigning light heavyweight kingpin, has staked his claim with three title defenses in 2024. After knockouts of Jamahal Hill and Ji?í Procházka, “Poatan” most recently came from behind to batter Khalil Rountree in round four of their headline battle this past October.

Topuria, meanwhile, seemingly has the edge over the Brazilian in terms of competition level. Though he’s fought once less than Pereira, the Spaniard dethroned the highly regarded Alexander Volkanovski in brutal fashion before becoming the first man to knock out Max Holloway to retain the featherweight gold.

But taking into account his career revival since dropping to 170 pounds, Buckley appears to have the vote of one renowned trainer in the fight game.

Ilia Topuria Issues Statement After Lightweight Talk Causes Debate: ‘I Will Not Leave The Title Vacant’

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria recently sparked a lot of conversation by revealing that he plans to move up to lightweight much sooner than expected. “El Matador” told Spanish radio show El Partidazo de COPE that he would like to face Charles Oliveira next time out at 155-pounds, claiming that we’ve already likely seen his […]

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria recently sparked a lot of conversation by revealing that he plans to move up to lightweight much sooner than expected. “El Matador” told Spanish radio show El Partidazo de COPE that he would like to face Charles Oliveira next time out at 155-pounds, claiming that we’ve already likely seen his last fight at featherweight.

Topuria’s coach, Jorge Climent, backed up this statement by providing more details about the difficult weight cut that the champion has to undergo in order to fight at featherweight. He claimed that the undefeated superstar is often 85 kilos which would make him over 40 pounds heavier than he needs to be on weigh-in day.

Topuria has received some criticism in the past for comments that he made about not wanting to stay in this division for too long so that he can pursue a second belt. In a response to some of the feedback he has received off the back of his latest lightweight plan, the 145-pound titleholder attempted to provide more context on X.

Following their respectful encounter inside the Octagon at UFC 308, it seemed clear that Topuria’s next title defense would be a rematch against the former champion Alexander Volkanovski. However, following the champion’s interview on Spanish radio, there was already talk about whether there should be a vacant title fight if he does leave the division.

He posted a message on social media to make it clear that though he does see a move up coming in the very near future, he doesn’t intend on giving up his belt in order to make that happen. He also clarified that there aren’t any concrete plans in place for his next steps as of yet.

“I will not leave the title vacant. The decision to move up to the next category is entirely mine. I haven’t had any conversations with the UFC yet, so everything is still to be decided. Stop celebrating because I’m not going anywhere. I have conquered my division and I will do the same in the next one.”

UFC Champ Ilia Topuria’s Coach Adds Context To His Lightweight Plans: ‘Your Body Is Changing…’

The coach of UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria has explained why his man is hoping to leave the 145-pound division behind him and pursue success elsewhere. Topuria dropped a bombshell this week when he revealed that he intends on vacating the featherweight throne and making a permanent return to the lightweight class in 2025. Those […]

The coach of UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria has explained why his man is hoping to leave the 145-pound division behind him and pursue success elsewhere.

Topuria dropped a bombshell this week when he revealed that he intends on vacating the featherweight throne and making a permanent return to the lightweight class in 2025.

Those comments come one defense into the Spaniard’s reign, which begun with an emphatic knockout of Alexander Volkanovski this past February. He’s since repeated the feat at the expense of Max Holloway in Abu Dhabi to keep hold of the belt.

While many have been pondering a rematch with “Alexander the Great” or first-time clashes with in-form contenders like Movsar Evloev and Diego Lopes, Topuria is instead looking to compete in a title eliminator against Charles Oliveira at 155 pounds.

Many have been shocked by “El Matador’s” remarks, and during a recent appearance on Submission Radio, his coach added some context behind the decision by noting that a lack of motivation from potential opposition isn’t the reason.

“I think he is — he hates that weight (cut),” Climent said. “He do it a lot of times and it’s (much) harder every time we do it. He don’t want to do this anymore, and that’s why I want to go up to the next weight class.

“His normal way is in that weight class (lightweight),” Climent continued. “Ilia fighting (featherweight), he’s young, you know? Your body is changing. When you’re 20, you have the body. When you’re 25, you have another. And when you are 30, you have another, you know? Sometimes I see Ilia at 85 kilos, you know, and he needs to be 66. We do a very big weight cut.”

While Topuria and Islam Makhachev have gone back and forth in recent months, the lightweight champ currently has business to attend to against Arman Tsarukyan before entertaining the prospect of a clash with his featherweight counterpart.

That fact has left “El Matador” targeting another top name in the division in Oliveira, who staked his claim for a shot at redemption against the UFC 311 main event winner by dominating Michael Chandler last month.

It remains to be seen whether or not Topuria really will relinquish his champ status in the new year.