Ilia Topuria is just over a month away from his lightweight title fight with Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and “El Matador” is already looking like a bona fide 155-pound fighter.
In case you forgot, Topuria left the UFC featherweight division behind earlier this year after “vacating” his championship belt. Topuria had secured back-to-back knockouts over featherweight legends Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway and decided to test his luck at lightweight. Topuria was hoping for a massive showdown with Islam Makhachev, but after he vacated his title to move up to welterweight “El Matador” was booked against Oliveira for June 28 at UFC’s International Fight Week.
Topuria, who competed as light as bantamweight earlier in his career, has fought one time at 155 pounds throughout his 10 years in the sport. That came against Jai Herbet back at UFC London in 2022, but Topuria stepped in on short notice. He didn’t have time to fully build his body up into a true lightweight frame. “El Matador” ended up defeating Herbert via second-round knockout, but fight fans knew there was more to see.
This time around, Topuria has had months to prep for an official move to 155 pounds and he isn’t leaving any stone unturned. The former UFC featherweight champion looks like an absolute unit for the lightweight division and took to social media early Saturday to show off his physique and some reflex training, both of which should terrify Oliveira fans.
Check it out in the above video player.
Oliveira, who will be getting his third shot at UFC lightweight gold at UFC 317, is currently a massive betting underdog against Topuria. It will be interesting to see how “do Bronx” handles Topuria’s punching power and if his ground game is any use against “El Matador.”
