Ilia Topuria says he, not Alexander Volkanovski, is ‘the greatest featherweight of all time’
No. 5 ranked contender Ilia Topuria says he, not Alexander Volkanovski, is the greatest featherweight fighter of all time.
Topuria has been riding a massive wave of momentum following his impressive unanimous decision victory over Josh Emmett last month. El Matador’ moved to 6-0 inside the Octagon, 14-0 overall. With the win, Topuria is considered by many to be the next man in line to challenge reigning UFC featherweight world champion, Alexander Volkanovski.
Following Volkanovski’s dominant third-round TKO against interim titleholder Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290, Ilia Topuria engaged in an intense face-off with the ‘The Great’ as the promotion’s latest pay-per-view offering went off the air.
In a brief interview with InsideFighting, Ilia Topuria suggested that he is the greatest fighter in the featherweight division. ‘El Matador’ even went so far as to claim that he can finish Volkanovski any way he chooses, any time he chooses, inside the Octagon.
“I can finish him however I want in the first round. If I want to submit him, I’m going to submit him. If I want to knock him out, I’m going to knock him out,” Topuria said. “I’m the greatest featherweight of all time in front of you right now.”
Ilia Topuria also suggested that his highly anticipated scrap with Alexander Volkanovski could go down this December. No official announcements have been made, but ‘The Great’ has also been linked to a potential lightweight title rematch with Islam Makhachev in October when the promotion returns to Abu Dhabi.
Entering the promotion in 2020, Topuria has curated an impressive resume for himself, scoring wins against Youssef Zalal, Damon Jackson, Ryan Hall, Jai Herbert, Bryce Mitchell, and the aforementioned Josh Emmett.
With Volkanovski’s impressive victory against Yair Rodriguez on Saturday night, ‘The Great’ has returned to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings, sharing the top spot with two-division titleholder Jon ‘Bones’ Jones.
